Northwest Aerospace News February | March 2018 Issue No. 1 | 页面 9

Cleared for Takeoff —Aerospace Workforce
by Robin Bishop
The Pacific Northwest states, Washington, Oregon,
and Idaho, have historically been known for min-
ing, timber, agriculture, and of course, spectacular
beauty and natural resources leading to an unri-
valed tourism industry. While these industries still
thrive, you might be surprised to find the area’s
modern offerings include impressive companies
like tech giants Microsoft and Intel, online real
estate master Zillow; retailers such as Amazon,
Costco, Nordstrom, Jantzen, Starbucks, and R.E.I.;
and a host of recognized manufacturers, insurance
companies and Fortune 500 companies. Washing-
ton State is associated with being the birthplace of
Starbucks Coffee, but is known more so for being
the home of Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace
manufacturer.
Boeing, which exports to customers in 150 coun-
tries, has been this country’s manufacturing heavy
hitter for over a hundred years, and as such has
fostered ancillary aerospace and aeronautical man-
ufacturing companies in its proximity. There are
now over 1,400 companies in the Pacific North-
west whose rich knowledge and depth of technical
skill touch every major aircraft manufacturer and
carrier in the world.
It then logically follows; a manufacturing region
of this caliber would require a highly trained pre-
mier workforce to support emerging technology,
growth, and constant change. Promotion of career
fields and focused aerospace and avionics educa-
tion in the United States, however, has responded
sluggishly to the growth and technological ad-
vances the aerospace industry experiences.
The 2013 Aerospace Manufacturing Skills Annual Report developed
by Washington’s Workforce Training and Coordinating Board an-
ticipates Washington State, alone, will require over 7,200 aerospace
workers to fulfill impending retirements and emerging technology
positions over the next five years. Add additional projections for Ore-
gon and Idaho. This phenomenon has thrust Pacific Northwest states,
especially Washington, into a new transition.
Craving a workforce that can keep up with the digital complexity
of new technologies on the horizon, industry leaders, including and
sometimes lead by Boeing, began looking for ways to stimulate
workforce growth to meet demand.
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