[anachronix]

I was once driving past the Hyundai factory on my way to Bangalore from Chennai looking for a late night dinner. I spotted a service appartment which was serving Korean menu and was still open at around 1:30PM.

I thought it would be the something like the Indo-Chinese restaurants but I was in for a shocking surprise when I went into the restaurant, it was a huge place filled with a whole lot of Korean community. From the women who were serving food, washing plates & the folks who were having food in their blue hyundai factory suit. It gave me a feeling that I was somewhere outside my country and the restaurant looked so typically like the ones I have seen in old Bruce Lee movies. The food served was hardcore Korean with the raw smell to the food which kept me away from taking any food. I had a chat with the receptionist while leaving the place, he told me that most of the Korean workers stay in their service apartments and they work on '14'Hour shift. I am not sure if he was right about this.

Infact, Hyundai has major chunk of Korean employees working in their factory. For these folks to be working in Chennai would be a major challenge considering the cultural & climatic differences and that too working for 14hrs in a manufacturing industry under theses conditions.

I am sure there are lot more people who have contributed to this growth!

[Gooney]

Originally Posted by anachronix

...working for 14hrs in a manufacturing industry under theses conditions.

I am sure there are lot more people who have contributed to this growth!

It is true. The Chinese work for longer hours. The workers stay in "hostels" within the plany complex and work...thats all they do! That is one difference between China and India, China can make things happen; India respects human beings more (or the human beings are lazier )

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by anachronix

Korean workers stay in their service apartments and they work on '14'Hour shift. I am not sure if he was right about this.

I am sure there are lot more people who have contributed to this growth!

That is quite correct it is quite common in Korea to work very long hours.
People go home at 1-2 in night and come to work next day sharp at office start hours of 8:00 AM

Even high school kids go out at 6:00 AM and get in 11:00 PM in night.
It is not unusual to find school girls ( in school uniform ) chatting in parks at 11:00 - 11:30 , They have sports in morning , then regular class , Singing - drama , English classes for SAT as they are carzy about going to us, Extra coacing , Tai-kwon-do .. hobbies. So basically education system hammers them to become workaholics.

Work is done mostly by brute force method and any concepts of smart working are not really appreciated and whole focus is on hard working.
So as per one study in developed countries Korean workers are least productive :-D

[headers]

Originally Posted by amitk26

...as they are carzy about going to us, Extra coacing , Tai-kwon-do .. hobbies. So basically education system hammers them to become workaholics.

Work is done mostly by brute force method and any concepts of smart working are not really appreciated and whole focus is on hard working.
So as per one study in developed countries Korean workers are least productive :-D

LOL: Looks like they dont have any entertainment like "Deal a No Deal a" or "Kaun Banega Crorepathi" to spoil them. Hence they love to work


On a serious note, a very interesting observation!

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by headers

LOL: Looks like they dont have any entertainment like "Deal a No Deal a" or "Kaun Banega Crorepathi" to spoil them. Hence they love to work


On a serious note, a very interesting observation!

well they have them but then Korea is the first country to commercialize MBMS ( Mobile TV bradcast) You will see in subways everyone is engrossed with the mobiles

They actually don't love to work but love to show to boss , Confucius values make hierarchy/priority very clear.

[navan49]

I was out of country for 3 decades. When I returned back to Chennai in 2006 it was difficult for me to adjust the heat,the office ethics and the availability of the stuff I needed. With in these 4 years the development is great. I can get the condensed milk and the Cheese in my neighborhood either in Nilgiris or in reliance or in More. The roads are widened. may fly overs came up. Now the Toyotas are the common scene. So it is really booming as a new detroit.

[airbender]

These are some things I want to point out:
1. Comparing a city on the decline to Chennai is an insult to this great city.
2. Detriot was home not only to auto manufacturing but also for auto related research which is missing in Chennai. Pune and hyderabad have some.
3. Unlike detriot at the peak(production was mainly at detriot 80-90%), auto production is distributed in India. Pune, NCR and sanand churn out good numbers too. So Chennai has no monopoly.

So for me this is not a good comparo. I am happy for what chennai has achieved though.

Originally Posted by anachronix

I was once driving past the Hyundai factory on my way to Bangalore from Chennai looking for a late night dinner. I spotted a service appartment which was serving Korean menu and was still open at around 1:30PM.

I thought it would be the something like the Indo-Chinese restaurants but I was in for a shocking surprise when I went into the restaurant, it was a huge place filled with a whole lot of Korean community. From the women who were serving food, washing plates & the folks who were having food in their blue hyundai factory suit. It gave me a feeling that I was somewhere outside my country and the restaurant looked so typically like the ones I have seen in old Bruce Lee movies. The food served was hardcore Korean with the raw smell to the food which kept me away from taking any food. I had a chat with the receptionist while leaving the place, he told me that most of the Korean workers stay in their service apartments and they work on '14'Hour shift. I am not sure if he was right about this.

Infact, Hyundai has major chunk of Korean employees working in their factory. For these folks to be working in Chennai would be a major challenge considering the cultural & climatic differences and that too working for 14hrs in a manufacturing industry under theses conditions.

I am sure there are lot more people who have contributed to this growth!

Why can't korean and chinese companies employ indian workers? These are not skilled jobs. Our millions of unemployed workforce can use these jobs for sure.

[xingamazon]

Originally Posted by anachronix

Infact, Hyundai has major chunk of Korean employees working in their factory. For these folks to be working in Chennai would be a major challenge considering the cultural & climatic differences and that too working for 14hrs in a manufacturing industry under theses conditions.

I am sure there are lot more people who have contributed to this growth!

I dont think this is that uncommon, I remember HCL BPO had bought a company in Ireland, and what it did was within 4-5 years of taking over, almost half of the people who worked there were indians. Of course there was also a question of cost cutting here.

But what I wanted to emphasis was in case if Tata start a facility in China, I can guess at least 20 % of employees will be indians (provided laws of land allow that).

One more sign I heard was the international school in Chennai was full and there was a huge queue even among foreigners to get their kids enlisted.

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by anachronix

Infact, Hyundai has major chunk of Korean employees working in their factory.

Is it so?
I read somewhere that work visas are not given by Indian Embassy
to people whose annual package is less than 25L INR.

[vigneshA]

Originally Posted by airbender

3. Unlike detriot at the peak(production was mainly at detriot 80-90%), auto production is distributed in India. Pune, NCR and sanand churn out good numbers too. So Chennai has no monopoly.

Very true. Lets compile the statistics for Motor vehicle production in each region and see the statistics.

[radek]

There is great progress in Chennai and other Indian cities. We are all proud of that. However, I will compare this to China which is already called 'workshop of the world' for not only auto, but every possible manufacturing.

We can really celebrate when we reach to Detroit of yesteryears in terms of research, pioneering new products, inventions etc. Except few, we are manufacturing as designed. 1 Nano makes me more proud than lakhs of other cars that we produce. We need to see more Designed in India and Made in India cars, that will be probably used all over the world.

[anachronix]

Originally Posted by Daewood

Is it so?
I read somewhere that work visas are not given by Indian Embassy
to people whose annual package is less than 25L INR.

You really have to see it to believe it mate. There are lot of them around the HMIL factory.

Originally Posted by airbender

Why can't korean and chinese companies employ indian workers? These are not skilled jobs. Our millions of unemployed workforce can use these jobs for sure.

Originally Posted by xingamazon

I dont think this is that uncommon, I remember HCL BPO had bought a company in Ireland, and what it did was within 4-5 years of taking over, almost half of the people who worked there were indians. Of course there was also a question of cost cutting here.

But what I wanted to emphasis was in case if Tata start a facility in China, I can guess at least 20 % of employees will be indians (provided laws of land allow that).

@airbender, This quote has answered your question very well!

[Gansan]

Korean workers will be employed only in certain key positions. Else, there will be no point in paying extra money to relocate already highly paid (by Indian standards) Korean workers here and not take advantage of the low cost skilled man power available locally, which was the reason they set up shop here in the first place!

[radek]

OT: Earlier I was used to work with US or UK customers who will never work beyond 5-6 pm. But when I first time worked with Koreans (in UK), I was surprised to see them working in office late in the evening. Another thing I liked about them is, when they were getting rental car in London, they were insisting on getting Korean brand. One person got Honda and he was really unhappy about it.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by Daewood

Is it so?
I read somewhere that work visas are not given by Indian Embassy
to people whose annual package is less than 25L INR.

IMHO this is recent update and mostly to ward off the Chinese laborers being brought to India by Chinese companies in area of thermal power equipments and other contracts such as piping work in reliance refinery in Jamnagar.

Even though Chinese labor was costlier they were brought because they had skills and could complete the work faster.

Originally Posted by Gansan

Korean workers will be employed only in certain key positions. Else, there will be no point in paying extra money to relocate already highly paid (by Indian standards) Korean workers here and not take advantage of the low cost skilled man power available locally, which was the reason they set up shop here in the first place!

Not necessarily , I am not insider to automobiles but have heard that now a days plants are automated a lot so actually you do not need a lot of manpower. The reason to set up plant here was never manpower or any noble intention to provide employment here.
The reason can be cited as
1. Government policy of taxation which makes it attractive for companies to set up plants for small car for local market.
2. If a big plant is opened for local market it is natural to scale it up and reuse the capability to use for exports.
3. India is a auto parts hub now ( next to Thailand I think) and that is made possible by cheap labor which these parts supplier employ.
4. Costs in Korea are rising.
5. In view of recent labor problems in Hyundai plant it is imperative to import workers and keep the plant running , Work ethics and shift timings which Koreans can provide is unmatched by Indians.