Paul Wells, CEO, sureCore

Was your business able to recover fully or partially from the global pandemic during 2021? Do you still have employees working from home?
VJ Electronix has fully recovered since the onset of the pandemic. From a performance standpoint, the pandemic did not slow us down.

As an industry leader, some of our product categories have come back even stronger and we have gained competitive strength from a Lean manufacturing effort that’s part of a two-year program. As far as our workforce, all employees are back in the office and have been since approximately May of 2021.

People are getting used to dealing with Covid-19 and I believe that employers are going to recognize that productivity and communication is not as good with virtual workplaces. Anecdotally speaking, eighty percent of all human communication is nonverbal, which makes virtual work a challenge, but in this competitive hiring environment you need to be flexible where and when you can. Job seekers are requiring hybrid flexibility. That is easier for some roles than others. In manufacturing, it's a balance.

What are your expectations for the electronics assembly industry in 2022?
We have seen significant growth for VJE year over year and foresee that continuing with a strong outlook for the Electronics Manufacturing industry in 2022.

In 2022, we predict that more companies will diversify operations for redundancy or relocate to avoid rising tariffs and red tape. Europe, particularly the eastern bloc (Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland etc) and Mexico are becoming contract manufacturing hotspots.

Has your company been affected by the inventory shortages of semiconductors and electronic components in 2021? Are you able to hire enough qualified employees?
We have seen some supply shortages at the board-level, and other components with a high electronics content such as motor controllers. Our suppliers have also experienced shortages and some lead times have almost doubled. This has forced us to hold more inventory to meet demands as no one knows when this will end. We also have been affected by inbound and outbound shipping challenges like so many others but with a concerted effort we have mitigated most of these challenges.

It is very, very difficult to find qualified employees and skilled labor. There are a plethora of open roles and plenty of jobseekers but there’s a mismatch. The more technical the employee, the greater the shortage. In the Boston area engineers for instance, are in high demand and this makes it harder for small to medium sized businesses to compete for skilled labor.