More About Stihl – the Company

Being the Best with the Best.

By Andy Jaeckle, manager of talent acquisition

How do you become the best-selling brand of handheld outdoor power equipment in America*? By hiring quality-driven employees, offering competitive pay and placing them in a technologically-advanced manufacturing environment that uses automation to enhance jobs rather than replace them.

Operations at our Virginia Beach facility include manufacturing, assembly, planning, engineering, sales, IT, finance, and administrative, so we offer potential employees a wide range of positions along with exceptional opportunities for professional development.

I believe that STIHL Inc. is a place where people come to build rewarding, long-term careers. We’re definitely an employee-oriented workplace. This is a family owned business, and that culture resonates down through the organization. We have around 1,900 people working here, and our executives interact with all of us regularly.

Our model is to promote from within. For instance our vice president of operations was once an intern at STIHL Inc. We have managers and directors who started out on our production floor. But we can’t hire everyone from within. When we do look for candidates, we are highly selective. In fact, every one of our future engineers has a chance to talk shop with our VP of operations prior to being selected. Our new employees are invited to lunch with our President within 90 days on the job.

We want our candidate to know that, from the very top down, our leaders are involved, not just with the quality of each product, but also the quality of each new employee. When a company is highly selective with its hiring process and also competes in a labor market with much larger corporations for talent, that company must differentiate itself in order to be successful. I believe we have.

Employees enjoy industry-leading benefits, including tuition reimbursement, a pension plan, company-matched 401(k), health insurance, paid time off, and sick leave. The top of-the-line health plan options include access to the innovative Stihl Health and Wellness Center, a preventative and urgent care-type of facility that’s open to employees and family members and located right across the street from our campus.

And we have a great work environment. I really believe that we are unlike any manufacturing facility people may have seen. It’s immaculate inside, and two things really stand out: the high level of technological innovation and smiling people.

On top of that, we are building our product here in beautiful Virginia Beach, VA one of several great cities in the Hampton Roads region. Excellent school districts, diverse choices on where to settle with easy commutes, year round indoor and outdoor activities, and the best part – it doesn’t drop to -20° during the winter.

A lot of job hunters are looking for stability, and I believe we offer it. Average employment tenure here is about 9 years and we are regularly celebrating employees who have reached the 10, 15, 20, 30 and even 35 year mark with the company.

STIHL Inc. is healthy, profitable, and we’re consistently reinvesting in our business. For individuals looking for a place to lay down roots for themselves and their family, I believe this is a good place to be for years and years to come.

Visit www.stihlcareers.com for more information and positions that are open now.