Guy Norris/LOS ANGELESand Andrew Doyle/LONDON
BOEING IS STEPPING up a massive worldwide recruitment drive in an effort to find engineers to cope with a record number of commercial-, space- and military-product developments.
"We're hiring everybody we can get," says the company, which is searching for up to 3,000 engineers still needed as part of a plan to hire an additional 13,200 workers by the end of 1996.
The company is scouring Asia and Europe and has been particularly active in centres such as the UK and The Netherlands, where Fokker's collapse has put hundreds of engineers on the market. The overseas search has been caused by Boeing's inability to find sufficient recruits in the USA.
The campaign is being driven by several programmes, not least of which is the intense pace of product development on the yet-to-be-launched 747-500X/600X series. The 777-300 effort is still "engineering intensive", as is the ultra-long-range -100X/200X study.
While Boeing does not expect the recently launched 757-300 stretch to extend its engineering resources, another Renton-based project, the 737-600, -700 and -800 family, is only now picking up pace towards production with delivery of the first fuselage from Wichita, Kansas, on 3 September.
The demand for engineers is also surging because of the accelerated pace of production and the increase in the number of customer-specific options. "Customer introductions have a big impact on engineering because each time you have a new customer there are many specific design differences."
Space and military specialists are needed for satellite and re-usable launcher programmes, the Joint Strike Fighter and E-3 and 767 Airborne Warning and Control System development efforts.
TAD Technical Services in the UK is one of the agencies recruiting on behalf of Boeing, which is offering up to five-year contracts, renewable on an annual basis, with pay of between $1,200 and $2,200 a week. "The size and scope of the engineering required for the new generation of widebodied jets is enormous," says Tony Docherty, vice-president of TAD's international division. "Recruiting teams will be visiting every city in the UK," he adds, "...and we shall be recruiting throughout Europe and the Far East."
Source: Flight International
