Electronics and the Economy

Hi all, my name is John Kohlbach and I am an Electronics Technician and I have my own repair business in Brisbane, Australia. I have started this blog to promote discussion among fellow Electronics Technicians.

I am interested in knowing what effect the current economic conditions are having on other Technicians, both in Australia and other countries. Has the economic downturn affected your workload, income or new-hires?

The impression I get from a number of Technicians is that the repair of Electronics is a dying trade. My personal opinion is that it depends on what area you are working in, but it does appear to be changing dramatically.

The consumer market has become “throw away” in the low dollar sector as the cost of repair can be greater than the repair cost, assuming you can get parts. Maybe this will change with the economic slow down that is happening, maybe not. Time will tell.

If you look at the commercial or industrial electronics sectors, the equipment tends to be around for a good number of years, even tens of years. Are there many Technicians involved in this sector?

I think that new skills are definitely required to survive. Maybe we are in a technology transition again, similar to the valve(tube)-to-transistor or transistor-to-integrated circuit eras.

I think it would be interesting to see what the average age of Technicians . Is this because of a decline in the number of people entering the trade? What is the average age of Electronics Technicians now, and how does it compare with 10, 20, 30 or more years ago? Does anyone have the statistics?

Thank you for reading

John Kohlbach
www.kohlbach-electronics.com

May the faults be easy and your work rewarding