Uh, because we are in a WORLDWIDE recession? Journal spin aside, it's not clear that one can generalize from the experience of the last few years. The question is what will happen in more prosperous times. Moreover, what about the flight of service jobs to less developed countries? You want to marginalize economic changes as a matter solely of concern to blue collar workers, but it's not the case. Job flight affects some very white collar employees as well. I don't know what the answer is, but the deeper question is how elites are writing off the nation and its interests in favor of a global order that they control.
Increased productivity and better use of technology, combined with lower demand for manufactured goods.
However, the Rockford workers in the article posted were not loosing their jobs to either one of those reasons, but due to overseas competition.
OK, manufacturing isn't where it's at, except in China and India (any manufacturing employment stats on those two nations????) But, why are WHITE COLLAR jobs going overseas, never to be seen again? Has there been a worldwide decrease in the need for programmers and engineers? (To name just two of a whole bunch of careers going by-by here in the U.S.of A....) What are the "worldwide" employment stats on white collar jobs???