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Articles
Where Will Your Children Find Work In The Future...
By Jerry Damron -- Circuitnet.com, 1/6/2004
With the latest upswing in the EMS industry, many people find themselves surrounded with outdated information and in some cases, a seriously false impression on what the future of the EMS industry holds.
DCSI is a retained executive search and placement firm specializing in the EMS, OEM & ODM sectors. Over the past decade we’ve watched the rise and fall of the EMS industry and now we’re seeing it beginning to come back again. One thing that we’ve seen from our vantage point is that the EMS industry and it’s future will never be the same as it once was .
A few years ago we saw the scramble to ship high volume manufacturing to Mexico, and now the latest trend is to ship everything possible to the Pacific Rim. Some EMS providers, like Flextronics & Jabil, have spent hundreds of millions relocating facilities to Asia. Others, like Fabrinet in Thailand, have simply placed their headquarters in Asia and are working their way around the globe from there. The bottom line is that we’re seeing jobs moving offshore. So where will your kids find employment in the future? We have some ideas.
In the past, all your kids needed to find a decent job in the US was an engineering degree – they could write their own ticket. Not so today. It would appear that the minimum qualifications needed to find a job in the United States in the near future will include not only a 4-year degree, but also a masters degree and the ability to speak more than one language. Preference may be given to those who can communicate fluently in Mandarin, Spanish (and we hear English would also be helpful).
The Changing Job Picture
So what’s leaving the US and heading off shore? Just about everything that involves high-volume manufacturing. What is staying? First board electrical engineering concept and design (NPI), Medical Class II and III, and Homeland Security and Defense. Outside of the regulated markets, most of what’s staying stateside is low-volume/high mix for industries like Telecom, PC, Industrial and Consumer.
Where’s the rub? Most EMS providers are all scrambling for the same things. We’re receiving a steady stream of requests to provide staffing support for companies looking to grow or increase their presence offshore. Other requests are for senior level engineering management and executive management, with an emphasis on those either coming directly from an ODM, or who have regulated vertical market experience.
Many employers think they can find the qualified talent they need through newspaper ads and online job boards. The reality is that the EMS industry has laid off so many people that many have left high-tech to find jobs in everything from food services to real-estate. So where will employers find careers in the future and how will careers find the jobs?
It’s time for the workforce to embrace change and ride the wave of the technology employment future. This could possibly include a temporary move offshore to find employment, or following the money within the boarders of the US. Another suggestion for the future is to have your children customize their education to better fit the increasing market demands in the regulated markets such a Medical, Homeland Security/DOD and electrical engineering design. For those who have solid tenure in the EMS industry – it may be time to learn a foreign language or two and consider a career as an ex-patriot.
In the end, there will always be exceptional career opportunities and careers to fill them, within the EMS industry and in the US. They just won’t be the same positions that have been readily available in the past. Finding jobs and careers in the future will become increasingly more challenging as the best opportunities in the future will not be posted on internet job boards and newspaper classifieds. Rather they’ll be accessible through professional networking, long term relationships and through industry specific executive search firms. With an ever-shrinking planet and considering how small the EMS industry really is, you’ll benefit far more from your reputation and experience than anything you can ever put in a resume or in a job description.
Biography:
Jerry Damron is the President and an Executive Recruiter with DCSI. He has been recruiting & servicing global high technology electronics companies for almost 20 years. Along with the rest of DCSI, he has a proven track record of building long term relationships and providing professional consultative services to both clients and candidates.
Contact:
Jerry Damron
DCSI
jerry@dcsiconsultants.com
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