Why work when you can wallow?
16 December 2008
There is a theory that there is a human trait, one which has been over-developed into a national characteristic in the UK, that allows us to wallow, revel even, in gloomy news.
In fact we even create the gloom when none exists – a week of heavy rain in February will be recorded as an overture of grey skies and flooding throughout the coming summer, while a similar spell of dry and cold conditions will be seen as a precurser to a summer of baking temperatures and drought. And woe betide the nation if a daffodil is seen in bloom in February!
And so it is with the current economic crisis. I was listening to a news programme on the radio a few weeks back and somebody phoned in to complain that the good news was never covered, while the political and economic commentators rejoiced in the bad tidings they were bringing. The listener was aware that certain retail news had been released that was actually quite promising, even if only by virtue of being a lot less bad than expected. The listener predicted that this news would be ignored in favour of gloomier news. That particular programme made a point of including it in its news bulletins, but come the evening it had indeed been considered not news worthy and had been unceremonisously dumped. You do wonder sometimes if some of the people involved in the current saga, politicians as well as the people who report on them, are enjoying the whole situation a bit too much – seeing them selves as magnificent leaders in tragic times. The equivalent of the general who ‘has a good war’.
Many of the people who I have spoken to recently are therefore almost feeling guilty about a healthy order book. Stonewood, an EMS provider and manufacturer of security products, is one example. I have included their latest product on this newsletter (Safety on the move) and it was apparent when I visited that its recent success had caused short-term expansion into the car park with dire consequencies for parking (once again I apologise to the irate man in the tiling shop down the road!). National Instruments was another company I saw recently and while it has customers who are feeling the pinch, it recently recorded its best quarter ever and is optimistic about the year ahead. LeCroy is a further example. It has just had its best year and is forecasting growth in 2009 and these are only a few of the companies I have spoken to in the last two weeks alone. For so many people out there, the atmosphere is good.
In the interests of fairness I should say that I did meet with companies who were beginning to suffer, although I won’t name them. This company is a media agency and are probably at the most vulnerable position in the marketing food chain, as cautious marketeers, running scared by economic reports, decide to sit on their budgets rather than spend them.
…but Irish eyes are smiling
Along with the numerous companies who are feeling confident enough to weather the storm, there are those who are actively doing well and expanding. At the beginning of this week Mary Coughlan, Ireland’s Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, announced that Microsemi was expanding its Ennis facility in Western Ireland and expected to increase its workforce by 315 in the next 18 months. It was actually reading this announcement (direct from the development agency IDA Ireland – not the press!) that for me brought into focus the dismally myopic vision of the world in the mainstream press.
Microsemi Corporation is an American company that designs and manufactures high performance analogue and mixed-signal ICs and discrete high reliability (hi-rel) semiconductors. Among the applications for their chips are pacemaker regulation, high temperature diodes for oil drilling and transistors for aircraft engines.
The official comment from Coughlan was: “I would like to congratulate the dynamic management team and highly skilled workforce of Microsemi in Ennis, whose hard work and dedication had led to this expansion. This is excellent news for Ennis and the greater Mid West region and is testament to the depth and quality of the workforce available here. This expansion is a clear demonstration of Ireland’s premier position as a leading location for premium overseas high tech manufacturing investments.”
Meanwhile, James J. Peterson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Microsemi Corporation paid tribute to the Irish operation, saying: “Microsemi Ireland is a flagship facility acting as a gateway between the European and US marketplaces for Microsemi. It is a shining example within the greater Microsemi family in terms of its day-to-day operational efficiency and long-term potential for growth. The size and scale of our investment in the Ennis facility is a direct reflection of the calibre and talent of our existing workforce coupled with our faith in the exceptional standard of the high quality recruits available within this region.”
Both comments are more reminiscent of the 80s and 90s when the electronics industry in the UK and Ireland had the swagger of an industry on the up. Nowadays it is unlikely that either comment, or even the news itself, gets any coverage. The agenda has changed.
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