With membership in ASQ down, ISO 9000 series certifications down, and an unnerving reduction in quality management staff in many companies during the pandemic, today’s quality professionals are justifiably concerned about their future and career choice.

Here’s my take on the future of quality: It has never been a more needed and noble profession. There has never been a time in industry when the tools, strategies, and hard-earned wisdom of a quality professional has been more valuable. The degree of complexity of some of our production and service processes is astounding; couple that with the zero-defect expectations of customers as well as those of your own CFOs as they guard the company coffers from liability lawsuits.

At Quality Digest we see an increasing number of areas that need the expertise of quality professionals. In my 2021 interview with Ann Jordan, CEO of ASQ, she said:

“The pandemic, as horrible as it is, has put quite a spotlight on how critically important quality processes are. One perfect example is in the development, storage, transportation, and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccines. It has been nothing short of amazing how this has brought C-suite awareness of the critical importance of quality processes and the professionals who manage them.”

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