This summer, Johnson had openings for two machinists that he hadn’ t been able to fill, despite the fact that he was working with recruiting companies and running ads online in the Seattle area, hoping to lure home a couple of Montana natives tired of the rain and the traffic on the coast.
The problem isn’ t confined to Montana, of course. A survey by Associated General Contractors found that nationwide, 71 percent of businesses said they couldn’ t find enough highskill or medium-skill workers, and a survey by U. S. Bank reported that for 53 percent of American small business owners, their inability to recruit and retain workers with the right skills was their number one constraint.
Montana doesn’ t lack for highly skilled labor, said Cairns.
His university in Bozeman doesn’ t offer a major in aerospace engineering, but it does offer a minor within the engineering department that produces, on average, 60 graduates a year.
Cairns said he pushed the school to launch the minor roughly 10 years ago, after surveys of graduates showed that“ upwards of a third of our students were going to work for aerospace companies or something that was aerospace-related, and could benefit from an aerospace minor.”
“ Our engineers are sought-after,” Cairns said.“ They grew up on ranches and farms, so they have pragmatism and they have a good work ethic.”
42 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS