Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1510765
36 SMT007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2023 Matties: Paige, you've chosen a career in cir- cuit board manufacturing. How do you see manufacturing? How do Gen Z-ers see it, and why might you see it differently? Paige Fiet: Manufacturing has a reputation of being kind of dirty and gross. Like Dylan said, it's seen as hard labor. My dad is an engineer who has worked in manufacturing, and when I was a kid, I was able to run around the fac- tory. I remember them getting their first robot arm and how excited he was that they would put in a robot. at was a big lead for me—whether consciously or subcon- sciously—into manufacturing. Matties: There are levels to manufac- turing, even in circuit board fabrica- tion, from the new $100 million automated facility in Moscow, Idaho, to other shops with man- ual processes and no com- puter integration—the general stereotype of manufacturing. So, how can fabs attract a younger workforce? Fiet: e appeal comes from the technology. People my age want to work in design—sit- ting behind computers, cod- ing, working with robots. I can see a younger generation join- ing if the machinery is there, but if it's all manual labor, there will be hesitancy. Nguyen: Image is a big part of it, mak- ing it look cool. Are we showing off this technology? Are there things we wouldn't otherwise be able to experi- ence in an office setting? Matties: An important aspect of a Gen Z-ers career choice seems to be having a higher purpose, a sense of mission, being good for the world and the environment. Does that ring true? Nguyen: Yes. We're in a time period with very loy ideas: the space industry or solutions to environmental issues. ese are big calls to action. How our career plays into that is impor- tant to us. Matties: Paige, you're building products for great technologies—rockets, pacemakers, EVs, and so on—but how does the typical operator get excited when they're just load- ing a piece of equipment or putting a board in a plating tank? Is that strong enough motivation? Fiet: Yes, if you make it strong enough. Operators deserve to be told the results of what they're doing. For example, I've sat in on trainings, showed pic- tures to the operators, and said, "We make this circuit board, and it goes into these high-quality medi- cal devices that your family mem- bers might depend on someday." Nolan Johnson: What's the response from new hires when you put it in such terms? Fiet: ey seem to take it more seri- ously when we connect it to some- thing they use every day, especially when we're talking about different IPC classes. If I tell them that it's a Class A part for a missile, and that missile needs to work every time, the real weight of that sits with you a little bit differently. Johnson: In addition to working for a higher purpose and sense of belonging, what draws a Gen Z-er to even apply? Fiet: Right now, it's still some- what accidental. When we get interested interns, oen they think we're doing assem- bly operations rather than P C B m a n u f a c t u r i n g . Dylan Nguyen