Silfredo Gutierrez does machine operating work at Arthrex. Filling machine operator jobs has been a challenge for Arthrex. It has 30 such jobs open now. [Photo: Arthrex]

The toughest positions for Naples-based Arthrex to fill are those for skilled machine operators. “They are very difficult to find,” says Connie Byrne, recruiting manager. “It’s a dying breed.” Arthrex develops orthopedic surgical products and provides medical educational services and employs 1,300 in southwest Florida. Byrne says it has been so hard to find skilled machine operators that the company started a four-year apprenticeship program for high school graduates to train students on how to operate the company’s complex manufacturing machines. Still, Byrne says, Arthrex has 30 machine operating jobs open. Convincing high school graduates to go into a trade instead of college is a tough sell, she says. Arthrex employees get four free meals a week and a free on-site medical center staffed by a doctor.