5/28/19 Sandia Labs hiring 1,100 new employees is Deal of the Week - Albuquerque Business First

The skinny

Sandia National Laboratories wants to fill 1,900 jobs this year, 1,100 of which are new.

The numbers

That total, if reached, will top Sandia's hiring for the past three years combined. Sandia added 643 new jobs last year, 170 in 2017 and 110 in 2016. The lab employed around 11,000 in New Mexico as of 2017 and paid $1.16 billion in annual payroll in the state from September 2017 to October 2018.

The details

Sandia's mission includes working on national security issues and developing advanced technologies. The lab needs to add more staff because of national efforts to upgrade the country's nuclear arsenal, as well as other missions, Mission Services Associate Labs Director Scott Aeilts said at a Wednesday meeting of the Economic Forum of Albuquerque.

What's next

It will be tough to meet Sandia's "unprecedented" hiring goal, Aeilts said: "Full disclosure, we're struggling to get those employees." That echoes what other local leaders in the aerospace and defense industries have told us about the challenges of finding the workforce they need.

Why it's significant

Sandia's big push to grow its hiring means more challenging, well-paying jobs for New Mexicans. That's important in a state many talented professionals have left because they don't see enough opportunities to advance. Sandia often promotes from within, and many people have built long careers there. Now, more will have the opportunity to do so.

More about Sandia Labs

National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, took over the $2.6 billion management contract for the labs in May 2017.