The Boeing Company

In Seattle, the Boeing Company continues to be one of the biggest employers, either directly or indirectly through its various vendors and consultants. I know a little bit about this company, mostly because I have dozens of friends and relatives who currently or once worked for them. People work for them for years—their first job out of college—and then retire from that same one job.

It’s a job that pays decently, is relatively secure and you can be pretty sure that what you’ll be doing 10 years from now is what you’re doing right now. I sincerely mean no disrespect. Heck, I’m one who enjoys proofreading hours upon hours, so repetition definitely has its benefits.

Through the years, Boeing employees have hung their head low when business is slow, when a recession kicks in and their jobs are at stake, or when something adverse happens in the news relating to a Boeing airplane or government contract. After all, it’s hard not to notice a Boeing employee, especially by the picture nametag hanging on their pocket that they often forget to remove when they go home.

But for the most part, Boeing has been stable and steady enough for most employees to hold their head up with a bit of pride. Every once in a while, it even feels cool to work for Boeing and the exciting aerospace industry, whether you’re a software engineer like my old schoolmate, a program debugger like my two brothers, an interior designer like a couple of my female friends, or a draftsman like my uncle.

As for me, well, I once modeled for a Boeing print ad. Yup, no wonder my family doesn’t talk about me much.