European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 4, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 20 the stars and stripes monday september 4, 1978 Silicon Valley firms search for More workers ads seeking electronics workers bombard area. New York times Silicon Valley is desperate. All along the 15 mile strip from san Jose to Palo Alto calif., where new electronics products Are devised expanding companies need More workers than they can find. And they Are resorting to exotic expedients to attract them. One concern sent a helicopter along the beaches at nearby Santa Cruz towing a Banner that said Sili Conics needs  others run radio and television commercials place fliers on the windshields of cars at supermarkets or offer $5,000 sign up bonuses and free trips to Tahiti for employees who recruit their friends. We Don t know exactly How Many openings there Are but 5,000 would be much too Low said e. E. Ferry president of the american electronics association an Industry Trade group. Ill bet i could get the 5,000 figure in a dozen  the association Calls the concentration of electronics companies on the san Francisco Peninsula from Stan Ford University South the country s major Industrial re search and development Center. Employing some 200,000 people this collection of companies manufactures computers radio and television transmitters signalling and detection equipment and electronic printing equipment As Well As Industrial instruments and semiconductor devices. The use of Silicon chips to make the semiconductor de vices gives the area its sobriquet of Silicon Valley. The area s real name is the Santa Clara Valley. An Industry study released through the office of gov. Edmund g. Brown jr., indicates that there Are 3,000 to 4, 000 Job openings in the Valley for nonprofessional such As assemblers technicians and Field inspectors. It projects a need a year from now for 19,000 nonprofessional. The study was prepared As background for an Effort to adapt state apprenticeship programs to Industry needs. No precise figures exist for professional openings for engineers and programmers but Industry personnel managers indicate that they May be almost As numerous As those for nonprofessional. Hewlett Packard manufacturer of a Broad array of precision electronic instruments calculators and com Puter systems and one of the biggest companies in the Industry is looking for 1,000 employees in the Valley half of its needs nationwide. A comparatively Small company like Shugart associates a subsidiary of the Xerox corp., which employs As Many people in the Santa Clara Valley As Hewlett pack Ard needs wants to hire 95 people. The openings at both companies Stem both from plans new York times 2 workers Eye new career opportunities. To expand plus some  Are growing 15 to 20 percent this year said Jack Groat corporate manager of employment at Hewlett Packard. Chris Vazquez who recruits for Shugart said his com Pany had grown from 276 employees in May 1977 to 1,000 today and is continuing to  ferry of the Trade association said the number of people who Are technically trained in t growing As fast As the demand. In Many instances companies have said that How much sales will be up will depend on How Many people they can  the result has been intense Competition for the people who can do the Job. Perhaps As Many assemblers opera tors and technicians Are needed As engineers and programmers. Secretaries and accountants Are also in demand though not in the same degree. It s a very difficult time said John Waller director of Industrial relations at i Tersil inc., another semiconductor company which employs 1,585 in the area and has 234 openings. In its Effort to fill them i Tersil has run ads on radio and television we had a radio Blitz for awhile Waller said noting that the company was planning to go to Bill boards around san Jose. A Standard practice at Many companies both Large and Small is to offer employees a Bonus for referring a technician Engineer or Programmer whom the company hires. I Tersil pays up to $500. The Fairchild camera and instrument corp., one of the Industry giants has a recruitment program with inducements that Start with a Coffee Mug or to shirt saying we started it  an employee who makes a successful referral can earn up to $250 in bonuses and get a Chance to take part in a monthly lottery. Three television sets have been Given away so far. At the end of september said Fairchild s recruit ment director Roger Barney we will give away five expense paid trips to Tahiti 10 Days for two  for some companies a direct Cash payment to the new employee is the answer. Shugart associates pays an Engi Neer $5,000 to sign and Vazquez said the company had paid that amount six times in the last six months. The Competition is so fierce that an employment Agency calling itself upward mobility offers to represent engineers in negotiations and provide them with Legal and accounting services. Its ads refer to electronic professionals As the new us  salaries Are rising an estimated 10 percent a year and the going rate for engineers with five to eight years experience is $25,000 to $35,000, according to John Velcamp director of Industrial relations at Syner Tek inc., a subsidiary of Honeywell inc. It takes a 15 to 20 percent increase to attract someone to join you he added. The inducements Are not limited to engineers. Accord ing to Velcamp his company has twice offered hiring bonuses of $300 to $350 for technicians known As aligners. Other companies indicate that further inducements for such nonprofessional employees Are on the Way. In recruiting professionals from outside the Valley the big stumbling Block is the High Cost of housing. It is almost impossible to move an Engineer Here from Texas ferry said. He can buy the same House in Texas he would have Here for half the  ferry indicated that a Man with a $65,000 Home in Texas might expect to pay $150,000 for something Compa Rable on the san Francisco Peninsula. At least one company is preparing to tackle that problem head on. Hewlett Packard which eschews both Bonus payments and promotional gimmickry has begun a Survey of its Peninsula facilities to de Termine exactly what the housing problem is for its employees. Groat said the company May consider housing subsidies for its employees. We re thinking about it Groat said. Our daughter climbed into a giant Teacup ride at Disneyland that whirled her around like a Centrifuge bounced her around until her eyeballs scrambled and she came to rest with her Chin hooked Over the safety bar. She laughed so hard i thought her Teeth would catch  climbs into the Back seat of the family car the one where the ride is so smooth a jeweler cuts diamonds and before you can out of the driveway she threatens to throw up. I guess every family has a queasy  it s the kid who turns every vacation into a question what am i doing Here according to my husband i have no right to com Plain. After All i m the one responsible for passing on the up Chuck chromosome. Did t i View the statue of Liberty from the Center of the ferry with my head Between my legs was t i the one who took dramamine to watch Gilligan s Island and i m the one who blew $20 on a never to be forgot ten fishing venture in Florida a few years Back. They Tell me i tried to choke a Small child who was eating a Mayonnaise Sandwich with bait on his hands As i was on my final approach to death in the interest of All you moms and dads who willbe travelling this summer with a child who suffers from motion sickness i d like to offer you a few suggestions that might make things easier for you. Motion sickness pills Are very effective. When Given As directed a child can sleep for Many Miles a word of warning they May be habit forming. To the parents not the child keep the child s mind off being sick. Tell her you re going to abandon her at the next exit ramp if she persists in this nonsense. Give the child her own window especially if it is i another car. Cool it on the Rich food and drink. Keep her Busy by having her hang her head out of the car to see if the left rear tire has a Bubble on it or is smoking. And above All Don t let the Driver of the car Stop and Start. Stop and Start. Stop and Start. Excuse me. C 1978 Field enterprises inc