Automotive suppliers are embracing flexibility as automakers downshift their electric-vehicle plans and reemphasize hybrids in response to the slower-than-expected uptake of zero-tailpipe emission vehicles. It’s a delicate balance. Suppliers say they know they’ll have to invest for EVs eventually, but they also know they can’t tie up too much of their capital and risk overcapacity. Likewise, they need workers with the skills for a new set of technology; they also need the workforce to produce the gas- and diesel-powered vehicles making them money now. Automakers in recent months have announced…