Northwest Aerospace News April | May 2019 Issue No. 8 | Page 27

People Power
Boeing 787 ceiling panel mandrel machined in 5 axis from a solid block of metal.
Of the company’s 190
employees, Grim estimates
that 160 of them work on
the shop floor as machinists,
welders and assembly
specialists. The company
also employs engineers,
project managers and
planners. There are also
seven shop foremen — one
for each building — with
the balance working in sales
and administration.
“It’s a challenge to find
qualified employees,”
said Grim. “It’s a tight job
market, and a lot of the best
people already have jobs.
We’ve had to get creative.”
Getting creative means
using social media
and a variety of online
advertising, along with
referral programs and job
fairs, to find prospective
employees.
“I’ve done some recruiting
through Facebook and
Twitter, but we’re still
growing our social media
presence. We need people
who are going to work here
for the next 20 years, not
the next five years — and
those are the people who are
searching for jobs on their
phones, and even submitting
their job applications on
their phones.”
Grim has also looked
out of state for qualified
applicants, across the desert
Southwest and up into the
Midwest and the Great
Lakes region.
APRIL | MAY 2019 ISSUE NO. 8
27