Bolaji Ojo Courtesy of EE Times (05/08/2008 10:50 AM EST)

Cruise control has no place in today's electronics market. Tech executives adopted a hands-on management strategy in guiding their companies through the first quarter by monitoring end- market demand closely, managing production and inventory tightly and tamping down on costs to raise employee productivity.

Those steps worked so well that first-quarter results, while considered weak compared with the preceding three-month period, were generally better than had been expected.

Most executives plan to maintain the same strategy through the second quarter and into the early part of the third quarter, when consumer and corporate technology equipment demand is expected to begin recovering.

Here's what this means for electronics employees globally: tight cost controls, including flat salary increases and possible layoffs, to keep selling, general and administrative expenses down. Also expect further divestitures of noncore businesses and increased outsourcing--not only of manufacturing, but some design as well.