The Marketing Minute: If Your Marketing Budget Gets Cut in Half, Then What?
Punching Out: How Are the Big Boys in Electronics Doing?
It’s Only Common Sense: Complexity Is the Enemy of Profit
IPC Recognized by White House as a Major Contributor of New Job Opportunities to US Market
October 31, 2018 | I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Companies and associations continue to sign the Pledge to America's Workers and have now committed to provide more than 6 million educational and training opportunities.
With these new opportunities, millions of American workers will have the skills and training to advance their careers and earn bigger paychecks. These opportunities were secured through private sector pledges, not taxpayer dollars.
Further, a bipartisan group of 41 governors have signed a pledge to America’s workers.
President Donald J. Trump launched the pledge in late July, prompting more than 20 companies and associations to pledge more than 3.8 million training opportunities over the next five years.
For instance, Walmart pledged 1,000,000 new opportunities. IBM, on the other hand, pledged 100,000 new opportunities, while FedEx pledged more than 500,000 new opportunities. For its part, AT&T is pledging 200,000 new opportunities.
Since then, more than 100 new companies and associations have joined these efforts to bring the total to more than 6 million new opportunities.
IPC, the Association Connecting Electronics Industries, is pledging 1 million new opportunities.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Landscape Professionals is pledging 150,000 opportunities.
Reflecting his commitment to preparing our Nation’s workforce, President Trump signed an Executive Order creating the National Council for the American Worker in July 2018. The Council, comprised of senior Federal officials, is creating a national strategy to ensure our students and workers have the education and training needed to compete in today’s economy.
The President also established an Advisory Board comprised of business, non-profit, and education leaders to provide recommendations to the Council.
As a result of President Trump’s policies, the economy is booming and providing workers with an unpreceded number of job opportunities. The unemployment rate has reached a 49-year low. There are a record 7.1 million job openings in the United States. And these job openings are bringing workers back off the sidelines who had been pushed out of the workforce.
Workers are in high demand as employers report challenges in locating individuals with the skills and training to fill open positions.
The rapidly changing modern economy will require new skill sets for our future workforce as new technology and automation grows.
Share on:
Testimonial
"In a year when every marketing dollar mattered, I chose to keep I-Connect007 in our 2025 plan. Their commitment to high-quality, insightful content aligns with Koh Young’s values and helps readers navigate a changing industry. "
Brent Fischthal - Koh YoungSuggested Items
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
05/08/2026 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007This week, I’ve selected some outstanding interviews that you’ll want to take note of. First, is a roundtable discussion featuring three dynamic industry cybersecurity experts. Please watch this important discussion that affects us all. Following that, I spotlight the IPC-2581 Consortium, which explains why IPC-2581 is the standard to replace Gerber data for manufacturing. Next, I am including my interview with PCBAA and AAM, who collaborated to release a short documentary on U.S. PCB manufacturing.
Global Electronics Association to Testify at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Panel on Section 301 Structural Excess Capacity
05/08/2026 | Global Electronics AssociationChris Mitchell, Vice President for Global Government Relations at the Global Electronics Association, will testify before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Panel on Section 301 Structural Excess Capacity on Friday, May 8.
Hall of Fame Spotlight Series: Highlighting Karen McConnell
05/07/2026 | Dan Feinberg, I-Connect007In 2021, Karen McConnell was awarded the Raymond E. Pritchard Hall of Fame award in recognition of her contributions to the Association and the electronics industry. As a senior staff member and CAD/CAM engineer at Northrop Grumman Enterprise Services, her primary responsibility was to develop a common, shared EDM (Electronic Document Management) library to support the electrical and PCB design tool initiatives across Northrop Grumman Mission Systems.
A Necessary Shift From Gerber to IPC-2581
05/07/2026 | Tracy Riggan, Global Electronics AssociationIPC-2581 is an open, vendor-neutral data exchange standard developed by the Global Electronics Association to streamline the exchange of PCB design information across fabrication, assembly, and test. It replaces multiple legacy formats—including industry standards, Gerber, and ODB++—with a single, comprehensive, XML-based dataset that captures all manufacturing details.
TTC-LLC and TTCI: Smarter Training, Stronger Test at PCB East 2026
04/27/2026 | The Test Connection Inc.The Training Connection LLC (TTC-LLC) and The Test Connection, Inc. (TTCI) will be exhibiting together at PCB East 2026, taking place April 28–May 1 at the DCU Convention Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. Attendees can find both teams at Booth #103 during the main exhibition day on Wednesday, April 29.