December 02, 2008 13:59 ET
Six Sigma Training Gains Popularity as Depression Looms
Increase in Demand for Six Sigma Training During Tight Economic Times Attributed to Need for Improved Efficiency to Cut Company Expenses
CLEVELAND, OH--(Marketwire - December 2, 2008) - With the economy in turmoil, many of the
country's largest companies are beginning to brace for the worst.
Employers are already being forced to suspend expansion endeavors, cut
employee benefits, and worst of all, reduce their workforce. Furthermore,
existing employees are feeling an undertone of cut-throat competitiveness.
As a company downsizes, employees are finding themselves in a direct
contest with co-workers to maintain a steady paycheck.
Yet, as the economy seems to fall, searches for the term "Six Sigma Certification" in
Google have been up almost 25% according to Google Trends. Searches for
"Six Sigma Training," "Six Sigma black belt" and "Six Sigma processes"
are also up. Business training companies including Six Sigma Online are
reporting 10-30% increases over 2007. This trend is attributed to the
demand for improved efficiency in the workplace to shave costs.
"The economy is in a very vulnerable situation," says Craig Setter,
President of Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online. "Subprime Mortgages are
just the tip of the iceberg. By now almost everyone has heard the story...
people were given loans that they could not afford to repay. This was
because the mortgages were packaged up and sold by Wall Street as
investments."
Mr. Setter continued, "The same thing happened to other forms of credit.
Even if our economy can climb these mountains... the United States still
has an outdated infrastructure, a $10 trillion dollar national debt, and
over $50 trillion dollars that is currently 'missing' from Social Security
& Medicare."
Setter adds, "Many leading companies are well aware of these issues, but
not every company failed during The Great Depression. If a consumer has
less money to spend, a company simply needs to become highly efficient.
Many top organizations are well aware that reorganization will allow them
to become resilient in uncertain times."
From an employer's standpoint, employing Six Sigma methodology allows a company to eliminate
the waste from within their organization. During tight economic times, the
need for efficiency trends higher, thus the increased demand for Six Sigma
trained employees. Companies typically recover over 20% of lost revenues by
reducing waste through Six Sigma processes.
Other factors to account for increased demand for Six Sigma are on the
individual employee level. Six Sigma certification provides a competitive
advantage. Hiring or retaining an employee that has received training to
"eliminate waste" is an obvious choice to most employers.
Six Sigma is a business
management strategy originally developed in 1986 by Motorola as a means to
reduce waste; Motorola reports over $17 billion in savings as of 2006.
Other major corporations that champion the success of Six Sigma processes
include Honeywell and GE. Six Sigma Online is the leading provider of
online Six Sigma Training.
For additional information on Six Sigma philosophy and training, visit
http://www.sixsigmaonline.org