I used to work for a semiconductor manufacturer in the US. We were kicking butt when we opened. We won semiconductor of the year in 1999. By the mid-2000's, we were still absolutely crushing it (I think we were top 3 in market share), however it didn't matter how many chips we made or how good they were. Asian companies paid their workers so much less compared to us. We started losing money on every chip we sold. Then, around 2008 the recession hit and that was it. Within a couple months, they announced they were closing our facility. Can't argue with money. Also, we had become a very automated company so the headcount was lower, but it still takes plenty of folks to maintain the equipment, engineers to continuously improve the processes, and IT support (not just helpdesk). All of those people get paid a lot more than worker bees on the floor.