Hi, it’s Angelo Giallombardo vice president at Central Executive Search.

Today I want to talk a little bit about the hiring trends for candidates that we’re seeing in 2023 in these packaging, adhesives, tape, and specialty polymer materials for electronic devices and electronic components as well as medical device manufacturing markets. So typically, what we’re finding here is, it’s getting more challenging to find the right candidate. Many of the candidates have changed their stance since inflation started happening at later parts of 2022 and most people were talking with aren’t open to opportunities right now if their companies are doing well. What we’re also seeing is when candidates are interested in opportunities, they are asking for substantial raise on their current compensation, sometimes upwards of 20 percent more of their base salary.

Now we’ve advised them that that’s not logical or reasonable for most of the employers, but, the candidates that we’re working with are typically in sales executive management, general management, marketing management, engineering product development or research and development, and executive leadership. What we’re finding is that because of their take-home pay being a little bit less with inflation costs and and the impact of inflation on their budget, they’re looking for a higher compensation to offset some of those costs now should it be placed on the employer’s hands, we’re not so sure, but this is what we’re seeing in the market.

Mainly these products that we’re working with and where we specialize, are in pressure sensitive adhesives and tapes and foam in specialty silicones on a lot of different specialty packaging products packaging materials and these are typically used for electronic manufacturing markets, EMS, or medical device manufacturing markets they get sold directly into medical OEMs and electronics OEMs and electronic contract manufacturing markets. Now these specialty materials and these packaging products, they do have a high value and the candidates and employees that are in this market, bring a substantial value to new companies.

Oftentimes engineers will have experience with specialty materials or processes like web handling converting, die cutting, lamination, specialty coating, pressure sensitive adhesive coating, or some type of roll good product. Now these roll goods are made directly into small components and parts and pieces for electronics applications such as thermal management, spreaders, EMI shielding, RFI shielding, filters, micro filters, or vents. We’re seeing a lot of applications for bonding and sealants encapsulation in electronics and medical devices especially plastic, films, injection molded parts, and other types of specialty silicones that have heat tolerant applications.

A lot of, especially these, silicone materials go into electronics because of their heat properties and their ability to absorb heat, but these thermal management applications that get put into a wide variety of applications and markets and when candidates come from these industries typically they know they have some value to offer other employers. So, perhaps that’s why they’re asking for more, but I do believe inflation has a high impact on the availability of candidates right now, and their requests for higher compensation is understandable, but it seems to me that the employers are getting past the buck down and many of them are pretty stringent upon their requirements so it hasn’t been quite as easy to find the right candidates with their requests for higher compensation, again, upwards of sometimes 20 to 30 percent more than they make now and finding that right mix with employers and finding the right recruitment for that.

So because we specialize in recruiting for these specialty packaging markets and for these materials markets for electronic devices, medical device manufacturing, and other industrial OEM markets like automotive and electric vehicle. Automotive OEM and tier suppliers specialty material markets for those applications, we’re seeing that a specialty experience and skill set is also becoming more valuable to employers, but at this point candidates, many of which are just holding tight and happy with where they’re at aren’t as open to making a move as they were in earlier 2022 last year. I saw that change and we saw that change in opportunities for candidates being open opportunities happen sometime in the fall late fall or early winter of 2022 because of inflation so inflation is having an impact on the market these are the hiring trends for packaging materials and specialty adhesive, tape, foam, silicone, and other specialty polymer plastic materials for electronics and medical device manufacturers.

I hope you liked this video if you have any questions about it please feel free to contact me. I’m happy to discuss it with you. You can email me at Angelo@centraljobs.com and we can talk a little bit further about any requests or thoughts you have in regards to the video in the in the content here. Thanks very much for watching I appreciate it. I hope you have a great week and enjoyed this video and thank you again for your time and energy and watching it. Take care!