Northwest Aerospace News April | May 2019 Issue No. 8 | Page 46

GROW YOUR OWN
How can an intermediary redefine Washington State’s aerospace
manufacturing legacy with an unprecedented aging workforce?
The answer may not surprise you — grow your own through
registered apprenticeships!
AJAC’s apprenticeships come at zero cost to each employer;
however, employers are responsible for assigning mentors to
each apprentice, rotation of the apprentice around the shop on
various industry equipment, assessment of competencies and
wage progressions as the apprentice’s skills increase. Appren-
tices are responsible for their college-level instruction tuition,
which is 50 percent reduced for apprentices in Washington
State. To put this into perspective, the average tuition for ap-
prentices is $825 a year. Over 75 percent of AJAC’s apprentices
receive tuition reimbursement from their employer, often for
receiving adequate grades throughout each class — a demonstra-
tion by the employer of their investment into the employee.
“We are looking for the types of individuals that are willing to
learn. It’s really that simple. I think maybe 15 years ago we had
a different mindset towards hiring people. High aptitude, a high
ability for being mechanically inclined,” said Matt Washburn,
training manager at Senior Aerospace AMT, an Arlington-based
aerospace manufacturer of structural parts for aircraft including
the Boeing 737, 777, and 787 (Dreamliner).
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NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS
In 2008, the year AJAC launched, the average age of the man-
ufacturing workforce in the United States was 43 years old.
In 2015, over one-quarter of manufacturing workers were 55
years or older, making them eligible to retire by 2020.
“Today, it really has to do more with attitude. Are you willing
to show up to work on time, ready to go, willing to learn, and
make parts, and work with equipment?” Washburn continued,
“We started finding though that our trajectory of our skill level
was going down, so what do we do, you know? We decided to
train in-house.”
Nearly three quarters of AJAC’s apprentices are first-time
college students pursuing career advancement opportunities
within the aerospace and advanced manufacturing industry.
Since 2012, over 250 apprentices have journeyed out into
some of industry’s top occupations, including machinists, met-
al fabricators, tool and die makers and our state’s first youth
apprentices as production technicians.