Before 2000, one of the largest and most influential steel producers in the country, Bethlehem Steel, seemed like a company that would never be taken down. In spite of their seemingly unshakeable business empire, the company was forced to file for bankruptcy on October 15, 2001. Not only did their downfall mark the end of the companies dominant era and time as the industries giant, but it also caused a massive employment issue from the massive decrease in the American manufacturing industry. Bethlehem’s bankruptcy caused thousands of employees to become jobless, showing a textbook example of structural unemployment. There were many different events/reasons that led to the collapse of such a seemingly strong business empire. From a combination …show more content…
They contributed to major projects including but not limited to the construction of bridges, skyscrapers, and the country’s naval fleet during times of war. Practically all throughout the 20th century, they were inarguably the most prominent and powerful empire within the American steel industry and becoming the most recognizable symbol of American manufacturing. During the company’s pinnacle of success, they employed a significant number of workers, and they were one of the most considerable drivers in the economic growth within the regions they mainly operated in, one of them in particular, being the state of Pennsylvania. In spite of this being the case, in the closing half of the century, the company, formally an undeniable and indestructible business empire, began to go through multiple different struggles. Rising competition across the rest of the world, particularly the rise in productive steel companies in Asia, deteriorated the company’s market share. Knowing this, we can also recognize that Bethlehem Steel did an absolutely abysmal job of modernizing the production process and equipment, as well as keeping up with the always changing trends, severely hindering the competitive edge the company had spent so long …show more content…
This left very few options for the now unemployed workers, making the economic collapse happen faster because of the country's demise. There is always a way to avoid bankruptcy, and Bethlehem Steel’s situation is no different. If the company had been smart and analyzed the future properly, they could have taken charge and put more proactive measures in place to help modernize the company and followed/analized the clear incoming trends to help diversify the business. It was clear that steel would not always be the main product needed for production, so it was quite clear that they should have invested in newer, more dynamic, powerful technologies earlier. Doing this would have helped Bethlehem remain the top dog among the incoming foreign companies. In addition to this, restructuring their labor agreements to manage their amazing pension and healthcare could help lower their costs and be more effective than other things in soothing one of the financial problems that clearly contributed to their eventual