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The following is a Counterpoint:

By Guy Spiher

I read with interest a recent article concerning a fight for engineers between my employer, TIMCO, and HondaJet. As I have also had the privilege of interviewing with HondaJet, I can agree with all sides involved.

None of us at TIMCO below the executive level is locked into a contract. We are allowed to seek other employment or advancement both within and outside the company.

Certainly, with the price of everything going up and the opportunities that a large multinational employer such as Honda offers, the desire to explore other employment options is going to be present.

As a longtime employee of TIMCO, I am well aware of the unfair advantages that overseas MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facilities enjoy in labor rates, government oversight and operating costs. As such, this limits the ability of a company such as TIMCO to remain competitive in areas we all take for granted, such as starting wages for new hires, pay increases for all of us, engineers included, and, of course, job security.

Certainly, then, the enticements that a large, well-known employer flush with our hard-earned tax dollars in the form of incentives can offer will be hard to pass up. I was there also.

To be fair, I believe that, although TIMCO is a good place to work, it does a poor job of attempting to retain highly paid senior employees. Perhaps, as I mentioned, this stems from the market pressures it is forced to bear or perhaps it is corporate policy.

Nevertheless, HondaJet will be a good fit for the area, and in the spirit of American capitalistic ideals, we, as a community, will all benefit from the proximity of these two great companies.

The writer lives in Winston-Salem.