Appreciate a difference where trade workers are critically important to the operation. BTW, MBA make worst management (ie Steve Balmer) Best managers are the few of so many who come from where the work gets done.

In so many American businesses, a shop foreman learns how to operate every machine. Then he can pitch in when someone is sick or an extra hand is needed - according to spread sheet management. They are concerned with costs.

In German businesses, a shop forman learns how to operate every machine. Then when the engineer (just like a Lt or Captain in the Army) needs to innovate (or how to attack an enemy), then that shop foreman (or Master Sgt) knows best ways to innovate a solution (or deploy his troops). They are concerned with innovation.

A fundamental difference is defined between someone only interested in personal profits verses a company (or Army) dominated by people how know how to push out the envelope - innovate or win a battle.

We have a shortage of welders. Why? Because business school graduates increased profits by not constantly upgrading the skills of their current welders. Then complain that America does not have enough skillled welders.

Notice how they do not blame the only reason for that problem - top management. 85% of all problems are driectly traceable to top management - especially when they do not know how the work gets done. Especially when they are management only because they have an MBA.

You are comparing specialization in vertical slices vs. horizontal slices and complaining about the later in favor of the first. Both have their own advantages, and ideally a good management team would make use of both. This is not just in regards to BMAs btw - this is in regards to everything. There are advantages to someone who specialized in human resource management and there are advantages to someone who has experience in the roles you are hiring people to do. Either directions come with a different set of transferable skills.

The problem is that when it became more cost effective to place different horizontal slices in different continents, it got a lot more costly for people to advance between horizontal layers in masses. Some do - immigrate and learn the language and adapt to the culture of the home office - but not in sufficiently significant numbers. This makes it a lot harder to get people with a more vertical experience within an industry.

TL;DR - they stopped looking to hire people with experience from their factories in the US office because the factories aren't in the US.