Joe Schibi’s Post

Have you ever had a phone call change your life? On July 23, my wife, Kelly, and I received one. The week prior she had a routine surgery to remove what was thought to be a benign mass, but the biopsy that followed showed a large cancerous tumor. Given its location, the doctors worried there were other tumors. This was confirmed by a separate PET/CT scan. She had two additional tumors: one on her lung and another in her femur. The last two months have been chaotic. A blur of securing our Johns Hopkins medical team and completing various scans, surgeries, immunotherapy, and radiation treatments. Progress is slow and uncertainty is high. As a Christian, I’ve thought about what the Bible teaches about suffering, but it had always seemed abstract; something that happens to “other people”. But this experience opened my eyes…sooner or later, we all will experience suffering. Praise God that in the midst of this suffering Kelly and I have seen how “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted” as he uses this suffering for our good and his glory. I’ve already seen how God is using this trial to change what I trust in for hope and security. I’ve been meditating on a song by one of my favorite artists, Andrew Peterson, called “Always Good”…one of the lines is: “Somehow this sorrow is shaping my heart like it should”. God doesn’t waste pain. He has a purpose. I am so grateful for how God has loved Kelly, Alice, William, James, and me through our church, our family, our friends, and my work. Many of you have been a part of that…THANK YOU! Whether it’s been meals, lawn care, prayer nights, school dropoff/pickup, homeschooling, or play dates, God has used many means to bless us in this season. As I returned to (part-time) work this week, I want to particularly thank my Deloitte family for how they’ve rallied around us in this season (and other seasons in the past). Because of their generous support, I am able to use my most valuable resource, my time, to be with my wife on rides to/from the hospital, in the waiting room, during treatment, and at home as we wait….together. I cherish that gift of time together. I want to close by honoring my beautiful bride, Kelly. Her strength and trust in our good God gives me perseverance to shoulder on through this trial. As I’ve taken on more of the demands of caring for our three young children in this season, I am humbled by the hard yet significant work she has done every day for the last six years and how she has done it with patience, intentionality, and fun. Love, there is no one I’d rather do life with. Let me encourage you to tune into Kelly’s CaringBridge (link below) to hear her reflections/updates as she battles cancer. She is an incredible writer, and the Lord has given her words of encouragement for all of us that encounter sufferings great and small. https://lnkd.in/e6yHpCxa

I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Senior Manager at Deloitte Consulting!

Good to see another investment in U.S. #semiconductor #manufacturing leadership!

No #AprilFools here… Flashback to March 31, 1941 in the #industrialbase build up during #WWII when Consolidated Aircraft Coorperation’s Vultee plant welcomed their first 25 women into the electrical subassembly divison…a day earlier than planned. “The manager feared that if they had started the day their training was supposed to end, April 1, everybody else would think it was an April Fools joke. Once women set to work, however, the joke was on the males. The ladies at Vultee showed enormous skill at the subassemblies, running, threading, connecting, and checking electrical cables. North American was impressed enough that they began substituting women for men in their tubing department. Production jumped by 20%. Before long, everyone started hiring women for other departments, and they ran milling machines, drill presses, and complex cutout saws and worked in aircraft engine assembling. They could also squeeze into places men couldn't in airplane assemblies, such as the nose cone and tail section, to do spot welding or riveting or snapping in the electrical system.” - Freedom’s Forge by Arthur Herman

Awesome to see and keep it coming! #trades

Exciting to see the investments into advanced #semiconductor #manufacturing in the U.S. and how this location will be able to draw on top talent from Purdue University’s microelectronics engineering program! Now the real work begins to make sure we have the talent pipeline (quality and quantity) ready for these facilities.

Really enjoyed this Hudson Institute conversation around the parallels between the U.S. playing to its strategic advantage in flexible mass production in the WWII era (check out the book Freedom’s Forge if you haven’t before) and how the U.S. can play to its strategic advantage in software today (while also rediscovering our manufacturing strength) #arsenalofdemocracy

There are many facets to the trade talent deficit, but a common challenge I’ve heard is that trades require more training but offer the same (or in some cases less) starting compensation than many low barrier-to-entry service jobs (e.g., barista). It is great to see industry partners who are listening to this feedback and making adjustments to reward those investing in relevant skills development so trade workers can have above average starting AND future compensation. “One example includes a multi-national chemical company and its apprenticeship program, aimed at attracting and engaging more junior talent prior to formal workforce eligibility. This program consists of a compensation structure aligning with entry-level packages held by full-time employees, prorated for time both on the job and time spent in the classroom, be it undergraduate studies or trade school coursework.”