Boeing Ramping Up Recruitment

Boeing Co. is starting to ramp up its employee recruitment efforts as it seeks to fill "numerous" positions at its expanding 787 manufacturing campus in North Charleston.

Boeing is looking to hire experienced aircraft assemblers to perform a variety of roles, including structural work, fastener installations and inspections on the 787 Dreamliner, the S.C. Technical College's readySC training program said Tuesday.

The Chicago-based aerospace giant is seeking employees to work on the new jet's aft and mid-sections, which are currently made and modified at its North Charleston plants.

It also is looking for job candidates to work in its $750 million final assembly line being built at Charleston International Airport. The new factory is scheduled to open in July 2011.

Boeing said Tuesday that it did not have an exact number of job openings that are becoming available. The new assembly plant will open with 1,000 workers on the payroll and eventually employ at least 3,800.

Boeing is not limiting its recruiting to the Charleston area or even the coast. Advertisements about the new openings are set to run in The Post and Courier and other South Carolina newspapers on Saturday and Sunday to attract as many qualified candidates as possible for current and future openings in North Charleston.

"This is the first time we've done advertising across the state," Boeing Charleston spokeswoman Candy Eslinger said.

The company is seeking applicants with a minimum of four years of experience assembling, maintaining or repairing large structural components. A high school diploma or equivalency is required.

All new hires will complete a six week post-employment training program with readySC.

Applications completed by June 25 will be considered for interviews with Boeing representatives in the Lowcountry and Pee Dee regions in July.

The company has received more than 860 orders for the 787, which is made mostly from lightweight composite materials instead of aluminum.The first locally-made passenger jets are set to roll off the assembly line in early 2012.

The plane also is being assembled in Everett, Wash. Boeing chose the Lowcountry last fall for its second 787 plant, saying it wanted to duplicate its longtime West Coast operations.

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