The Toyota Motor Corporation can trace its roots back to the textile industry of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1890, Sakichi Toyoda invented the wooden Toyoda handloom then the Toyoda automatic loom, which would revolutionize the textile industry (Toyota-Global.com, 2013). Four years later in 1929 he sold the patent to British investors and used the profits to fund his automotive venture. Since its inception in Japan in 1937, the Toyota Motor Corporation currently has plants in 27 countries with more in construction. Toyota realizes that in the global economy they must be accommodating to other countries’ customs and values and not try to force Japanese practices on them (Maynard, 2008). In the United States alone there are plants in Kentucky, Indiana, Texas, and Mississippi as well as design centers in California and Michigan (Maynard, 2008). Toyota is following this semi-autonomous regional model in other places as well, such as Europe and China. Toyota has embraced the Global economy and marketplace and is thriving.
As a result of Toyota’s worldwide operations, the labor demand will vary in different countries and regions. The effect of globalization on labor supply and demand is double edged sword. On one hand, the global presence of Toyota increased their potential labor supply exponentially. Certain job positions have no geographic restrictions on the talent pool. Conversely, the presence of regional factories increased the labor demands in the respective region. Toyota is not the only foreign auto maker following this model, Nissan among others also have regional factories in the United States. Therefore, the Toyota factories in the U.S. are competing with American and foreign auto makers for U.S. labor. As an result some of the traditional lower skill jobs have an excess of labor supply and low labor demand whereas newer more