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The Shaughnessy Report: Help Wanted

You may have noticed a few open positions at your company, or among other companies in our industry. You also may have wondered why it’s so hard to fill these seats.

Many fabricators and suppliers have had multiple positions vacant for months, and unlike even five or 10 years ago, most companies don’t have a stack of resumés to choose from.

Why are there so many open positions in this industry anyway? After all, this is one of the most exciting times to be working in electronics. The headlines are full of news about advances in artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, and wearable medical devices—technologies that were once only seen in Heinlein and Asimov novels.

But many of our co-workers have retired, and there’s another batch of technologists planning to pull the pin within the next five years. We’ve seen millions of working-aged people just quit the workforce for good.

So, what do you need to do to fill these seats? As we learned while planning this issue, there are young people out there, eager to go to work in circuit board manufacturing. But they’re not going to come to you; you will have to go out and find them. Your company must become attractive to these young people, like a peacock spreading its feathers.

You must have an effective hiring strategy if you want to attract—and retain—skilled workers. Does your company have such a strategy? If not, we have the information you need to get your hiring plans up and running.

In this issue of PCB007 Magazine, our expert contributors discuss current trends in hiring, including what the next generation wants in a career. We also cover a variety of ways to ensure that you are hiring the best person for the job, as well as how to "sell" your company to recruits.

We start with a feature article by Brian Wallace, who explains that employers need to engage with new hires well before they join the company. Dr. John W. Mitchell posits that many companies need to basically start over and “fire” their hiring habits. Hannah Nelson shines a light on the wants and needs of the young employees who will, hopefully, be working with you. PCB design student Paul Farquhar discusses his recent Palomar College class, and what hiring managers are seeking in new hires. And we have an interview with application engineer trainee Joseph LaRosa, who discusses what attracted him to this industry and robotics in particular.

I hope your summer goes well. Take some time off. You’ve earned it!

This column originally appears in the June 2023 issue of PCB007 Magazine.