The roughly 60 employers from throughout Cincinnati and Dayton at the same job fair, held at Sharonville Convention Center, said they’re looking for applicants like Canter who have machining and computer-operated equipment experience.
“We’re looking for CNC machinists with three to five years’ experience. Programming is a plus, but we do our programming offline, so it’s not a must,” said Terry Kilbarger, manufacturing manager for RB Tool & Manufacturing Co. of Mount Healthy, a precision machine shop with 47 employees.
“Right now CNC machinists who can program are pretty hard to find. They’re in high demand, but the ones we are finding are very good,” Kilbarger said.
While Canter and RB Tool sounds like a perfect match, there aren’t enough Canters to fill the number of jobs available seeking the same skill set — machine operating experience including computer and math skills. And manufacturers aren’t just looking for experience. They’re also willing to train people they can rely on to come to work every day.
“I don’t just hire for experience, but we hire for attitude as well,” Kilbarger added.
If you’re a job seeker that can do CNC work, Tessec LLC’s president wants to hear from you.
“I’m looking for someone who’s got a technical aptitude both on basic math skills but also in the CNC technology,” said David Evans, president of Tessec, a Dayton aerospace parts manufacturer and defense supplier with about 15 employees.
“They need one or the other, math skills or some sort of CNC background and then the ability to learn from there,” Evans said.
FinPan Inc. of Hamilton, which manufactures construction products, has about five open jobs including a maintenance technician and production laborers, said Lisa Schaffer, director of human resources. FinPan employs about 42 workers.
“We’re looking for a candidate that first of all has good soft skills meaning they’re going to come to work every day, they’re going to be there on time and they’re going to complete the job assignments they’re given in the course of their day,” Schaffer said.
Another Hamilton manufacturer, United Performance Metals, is filling open positions in plant operations, said Sherri Davis, human resources and training lead for the company. The stainless steel distributor and metal processing company has about 100 employees in Hamilton.
“The biggest challenge I think would be to find just that ideal combination of the experience that’s helpful for us and also that personality that’s a reliable, dependable kind of person that can just come in and be a long-term employee,” Davis said. “We want somebody there that’s going to be there until retirement hopefully.”
Tomak Precision of Lebanon recently completed a building expansion, and the aerospace parts manufacturer of more than 50 employees is growing with the aerospace industry, said A.J. Schaeper Jr., the general manager.
Schaeper said he’s looking for “somebody that’s skilled that doesn’t have more jobs than I have fingers that will come to work on time every day and work overtime as required.”
“It is a big challenge because I think people… they need the money but they don’t always want the job.”
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