I think there has always been a dearth of people fully conversant in the field of Industrial Electrical/Electronics, the shortage and the lack of emphasis on teaching highly skilled Technicians that filled the gap between Journeyman and Engineer was noted back in the 70's in Europe by Siemens, who at that time created teaching labs, just for their own World wide equipment maintenance.
Also it takes a special breed to look after the modern Industrial CNC's, as the skills needed cross a few disciplines, Electrical, Electronic, Mechanical, Hydraulic for a few.
Also there may be a tendency for the industry to follow the same path that happened in the Domestic Electronics area, where there was also a scarcity of good technicians.
Systems became more modular, and throw away components made it easier to supply service personnel that became board changers, rather than diagnosticians.
I know from my own experience in the area I am in, skilled personnel are not being replaced to keep up with the growing demand.
One up side if you are in this category, you can virtually write your own ticket!
Al.
CNC, Mechatronics Integration and Custom Machine Design
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
Albert E.