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One World, One Industry: ‘Blocking and Tackling’ During Tough Economic Times

There never seems to be an easy time to work in the electronics industry. Supply chain challenges are prevalent and never seem to be solved, finding talent has been a challenge for 30 years, and constant pressure on margins means a business leader can never sit still as regulations and tariff rules change on a regular basis.

Not to mention just trying to manage the normal day-to-day challenges of finding new business and keeping current customers happy, then add an unpredictable economic climate, and the worry of a possible recession. No wonder many industry leaders are in a tailspin.

As IPC Chief Economist Shawn DuBravac shared with me, “We are about a month away from a recession, and I’ll tell you the same thing next month—until it happens.” In speaking with industry executives, I have heard some exclaim, “I wish we would just have the recession already, so we can get on with dealing with it and then moving past it.”

How are industry leaders handling all this stress? Here are a few blocking and tackling efforts that I have seen industry leaders undertake:

• They take care of their people. These are your greatest asset. We cannot expect that the people we hire for the skills they possess will be as valuable if we don’t continue to advance and expand those skills. Keep training your people. There are new tools and information available to offer your employees to encourage their growth. Invest in your people by making them more valuable. They are your greatest asset.
• They embrace efficiency. We have been given a great boon with the latest AI developments. Much of the routine work or initial ideation can be accomplished faster and with less effort than before with the help of AI. Make sure you are informed about the best tools available, and that your team is well versed in their usage. (See my first point about people.
• They look to IPC to supplement internal training. If I am talking about training, let’s talk about how you can get IPC training to supplement your internal training, and have it covered by government funding. IPC recently had some of its programs recognized by the U.S. government as official apprenticeship programs. This means you can get thousands of dollars from your local state to do IPC training and relevant internal training as well. Improving your people with other people’s money sounds like a good idea to me.
• They are innovative. Involve diverse segments of your team to attack challenging problems. Instead of only engaging engineers to solve a manufacturing problem, or just engaging business or finance staff on business challenges, add people from different parts of your organization to expand and broaden your innovation. People of different backgrounds, levels of experience, and parts of the business will increase the creativity needed to solve big problems.

While there seems to be a continual threat of recession or economic downturn, there are many positive ways to approach these challenges, particularly if you invest in your people and provide them with opportunities and challenges that will make them eager to help your company thrive.

This column originally appeared in December 2023 issue of PCB007 .