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By: Louis
Y. Ungar,
Editor in Chief, The BestTest Newsletter
You might have been lectured by a survivor of the Great Depression on how they made it through economic conditions far worst than what we are facing now, but chances are you weren’t talking to a test engineer.
A recent article in Electronic Business (March 10, 2009)
explains the difference this time. “This downturn has a very different dynamic than anything that the electronics industry has seen before,” said Derek Lidow, CEO of iSuppli. Previous downturns were caused by too much capacity. This one, he said, is caused by a steep and sudden drop in demand. “We’ve never had a demand-less downturn in electronics,” he said, noting that there wasn’t much of an electronics market during the Great Depression.
With demand down where does test stand? Teradyne, a leading high-end ATE company explained its poor outlook for the first quarter this way. "Global economic conditions and consumer demand further weakened this quarter, causing our customers to reduce their test needs to unprecedented levels." Teradyne said it is taking steps to further lower its annualized costs, in response to these very difficult market conditions.
So what does this all mean to the test engineer who is hoping to continue receiving his/her pay check without a lay off notice? Test engineers, probably more than any other engineers, place a great deal of value on job
security. After all, whether the company sells 10, 100, 1000 or a million units, the products must be tested, right? “Must” may not be the term management would use in light of ever shrinking markets. They might conclude that –at least until things get better – test could be compromised. They would be wrong, you know – but who will tell them that they are wrong? You, the test engineer will have to convince them as if your job depended on it. It probably does.
A recent article in the February 2009 issue of Money
magazine, “Career Survival Guide: Part I, Fireproof your Job,” offered six strategies for employees in all professions how to avoid being the ones laid off. In this article, I will try to customize those strategies to test professionals:
1. Stand out and Step Up: Test engineers I know tend to be non-confrontational. They normally only get noticed when things are not working. Not getting noticed can appear to be the best strategy for getting bypassed during the job slashing. This strategy will not work for long. When the 2nd or 3rd tier layoffs hit, the question of the need for test inevitably surfaces, and the “invisible guy” will not be missed. Instead of hiding in a corner, you should confront management by insisting that the need for high quality is more important now than ever. When money is in short supply and there are more companies willing to sell than customers willing to buy, quality matters. Nothing substantiates quality to the customer as much as test. Tell your manager, tell your marketing people, tell your quality people, tell your reliability people, what you are accomplishing with test. Tell them, so they tell your company’s customer. Have them work it into the product brochure. Have customers visit the test floor. Show off the ATE your company owns to your customers. Help the company in the area most needed, even if that is in sales. Volunteer to help make the deal by impressing customers on the care you take in making sure they get a quality product. Lead this effort and you will be viewed as someone they need to keep around.
2. Be a Money Maker: Often, test professionals are viewed as “necessary” (as opposed to an “opportunity maker.) Following the advice in item 1, you can follow through with economic justifications. Remember test can be a technical solution to an economic problem. It almost always costs less to test than not to test, but don’t assume that your manager or your customers know that. You should be more efficient and cost-effective in your test, but that may not do you much good if you have not demonstrated the money you can save (make) for your company. Testable designs lower test cost by orders of magnitude and the benefits far outweigh the extra effort, but if you do not demonstrate its economic benefits, there is probably no one in the organization that will. Your contribution as a money maker will be unknown or ignored.
3. Don’t be a Debbie Downer: “Nobody likes a complainer, and layoffs give managers free rein to get rid of the people who make their lives difficult,” the Money magazine article suggests. Test is by its nature a nitpicking task, always looking for faults. Eliminating faults is a noble deed, blaming others for them is not. Make certain that you limit your fault finding to electronics, rather than to personalities – especially now when everyone is worried about the same thing you are.
4. Increase your Value: As we discussed in point 1, you need to play up the value of test as a necessary and beneficial profession. Additionally, you need to emphasize the value that you personally bring to the company. Your knowledge of the intricacies of your test instruments, the test methodology, the testability analyses you perform with designers and even your relationship with vendors are all of real value to the company. How long would it take a new trainee to debug test programs you have written, or understand the intricate details of the test procedures you created? If you have commercial ATE, it may take a long time for the company to find someone familiar with the equipment, and the large capital investment may be useless without your expertise if you are laid off. If you built your own tester, you may be even more valuable to the company. Assess your value, and in a nice and positive manner, make certain your management is aware of that value. If you do not have the expertise, make sure you learn. You should take test and testability courses whenever you can. If you are having difficulty getting approvals, take a vacation day when you attend courses, or promise to make up the time. The company usually does not have a problem paying the tuition, but they don’t want to have you take time off from work. Offer to make up the time. When you become more valuable to the company because of your expertise, you add a layer of lay off protection.
5. Go Beyond your Job Description: I don’t know of anyone who has become lax during these economic times. People work longer hours and much harder, especially in companies with major lay offs. No doubt that key positions are lost and certain functions do not get done. If a test technician was laid off, learn to solder and debug. Stay an hour longer each day so your company does not have to forego all the tasks that are not getting done. Chip in and make certain that you are viewed as a team player.
6. Make a Sacrifice: “Most people regard someone who’s willing to take a pay cut as less valuable,” says Jodi Glickman Brown, founder of Great on the Job, which trains professionals in workplace skills. “The exception,” says Brown, “is when there’s an industrywide downturn and taking a pay cut can help keep your company afloat. Then you can look like a hero.”
The recession will be over some day - hopefully
sooner than later. Many good companies may disappear, but one
thing we can predict about the ones that survive. They will be
companies that care enough about their customers to test before they
sell and to support their products with better tests. To
accomplish that they will need test engineers, so test engineers must
stay on the job. This sounds like a win-win strategy. Stay
on the job so both you and your company survive.
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