Sheryl Kent, a career consultant at Wright State University, said it’s a job-seeker’s market today and there are plenty of job openings for qualified students and young graduates.
But finding experienced engineers who can qualify for a Department of Defense security clearance can be a particular challenge, she said.
“I think that’s the biggest challenge,” said Kent, who works with Wright State’s College of Engineering and Computer Science. “Employers are wanting to hire well seasoned employees with certain traits.”
Midmark does not necessarily need engineers with defense experience, but says it has about 20 open engineering positions, including electrical, mechanical and software engineers, for its Austin Landing headquarters and its expanding Versailles manufacturing and research campus.
Midmark has been growing consistently in recent years, with an attendant need for engineers, said Scott Albers, Midmark’s director of product development.
“I wouldn’t say it’s new for us,” Albers said of the company’s need for engineers. “It’s just we have the opportunity to do it, and we’re doing it in greater numbers this year.”
The need ranges from entry-level engineers all the way to senior engineers, he said.
Joanie Krein, vice president-market manager for Manpower Group of Dayton, is familiar with the issue.
“Certainly any technical or skilled professions are always challenging, especially in this market,” Krein said Monday. “Employers are doing some unique things to trying to find talent.”
That includes training employees they already have or bringing employees from outside the Dayton market.
Another tool: Higher pay.
“We’re seeing overall compensation packages are climbing and improving,” along with hiring and referral bonuses, she said, adding: “Anything they can do to make their plan more attractive.”
Midmark needs more than engineers. The company recently announced a 73,000-square-foot expansion of its manufacturing footprint in Versailles, which is scheduled to be completed at the end of the year and expected to create 100 new jobs over three years.
The Versailles campus is Midmark’s largest work site and the future home to its technology center, currently under construction.
“With the belief that every individual can make a difference, Midmark is seeking innovative, courageous and passionate individuals to join our team and help us change the way health care is delivered,” said Sue Hulsmeyer, Midmark vice president human resources and corporate communications.
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Midmark’s workforce approaches 1,000 employees in Versailles and more than 60 employees in Austin Landing. Albers has just over 100 engineers in his department.
In a strong economy, the competition for engineers is keen, Albers said. Midmark oversees a co-op program, which attracts 15 to 20 students each semester. That’s one tool at the company’s disposal.
“It is more challenging to find experienced engineers (during) strong economic growth, both in the United States and globally,” Albers said.
In a good economy, employers often are forced to find their next engineers working at other companies, Kent said.
“If they’re looking for the senior employee with a security clearance, I feel like they’re stealing from other companies,” she said with a laugh. “They’re having the challenge, and one contractor takes from another. The workpool is just constantly being recycled.”
That workpool is also consistently fed with new talent, from Wright State and elsewhere, she noted.
“But we have all these new students, all this new talent, and so I think with the employers being flexible — using co-ops and internships to train them — once students graduate, they may have the skills they need,” Kent said.
A student who is a U.S. citizen with an electrical engineering degree — “My gosh, they have (job) offers, no problem,” she added.
People with security clearances have always been in demand in our region, said Cassie Barlow, president of the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education.
“SOCHE recommends that companies build a workforce strategy that plans for the development of their next generation of workforce,” Barlow said in an email. “There are many ways to develop the next generation that include developing from within, hiring veterans, building an intern program, hiring people who have retired from a first career and hiring apprentices.”
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