HAWORTH, Inc.

"Haworth is the only office furniture manufacturer to receive the highest ranking for job security and training it provides its employees in The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America."
– Company literature

• IBM 3090 • COBOL, DB2, PowerBuilder •
• Manufacturer • Medium-sized shop •

Haworth manufactures office furniture and seating. Its innovations include the Trakker desk that can be programmed to change positions. Another ergonomic design is the Accolade line of chairs; the accompanying floppy disk shows users how to adjust the chair and provides animated illustrations for warm-up and stretching exercises.

Founded in 1948, Haworth has revenues of more than $800 million and 7,000 employees. Headquartered in Holland, Michigan, Haworth is privately-held. The company has received awards from Contract Design magazine for the world's first adjustable keyboard pad and has earned the ISO 9001 certification for its quality control manufacturing procedures. Company executives sit on advisory boards of local colleges, and the company has partnered with Apple Computer Company to provide office furniture and computers to Holland schools.

Technology

Haworth has an IBM 3090 running under MVS/ESA, which acts as a host in a client-server environment with more than 800 IBM PC-compatibles on a Local Area Network (LAN). Programming on the 3090 is in COBOL, under CICS, using the DB2 database management system. Development on the PCs uses ORACLE, PowerBuilder, Forest & Trees (Channel) and Computing DBAccess.

Haworth employs 80 computer professionals. Job titles range from Computer Operator to LAN Technician, Data Processor Clerical, Systems Engineer, Database Administrator, Programmer Analyst, Systems Analyst, Senior Systems Analyst, Manager for Development and Support, and Director. Staff members recently developed an order processing and invoice acknowledgement system on the IBM 3090 using Rapid Application Development (RAD) techniques and Object Oriented Design (OOD), under CICS in DB2, using the Sapiens development tool.

Culture

Computer professionals work in offices and cubicles in a nonsmoking environment. Each professional has an ergonomically designed Accolade chair. They may occasionally travel to sites in Toronto, Canada or North Carolina. Haworth has a flextime policy; standard office hours are from 7 AM to 4 PM, or 8 AM to 5 PM. The rest of the staff typically works 42 to 45 hours a week, depending on project deadlines.

Computer professionals work on assignments using current technology and receive one to two weeks a year of professional development and training time.

Haworth observes 10 holidays plus 2 personal days. The company offers two weeks of vacation to start, three weeks after five years, and four weeks after twelve years. The company's benefits package includes medical, disability, and dental insurance, and tuition reimbursement, adoption benefits, and college scholarships to dependents of employees.

Candidates

Most of Haworth's computer professionals are hired as entry-level candidates recruited from local colleges. Candidates have Bachelor's degrees in Business, Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related discipline. Candidates should be mature, tenacious, creative, and personable, with good problem-solving skills.

The average computer professional at Haworth has 10 years of experience and a Bachelor's degree with one and one-half years of graduate education. Haworth typically hires one to four computer professionals a year, finding candidates through college recruiting.

Contact

A letter with a resume is preferred.

Human Resources

Ms. Linda Farr, Information Services Recruiter

(616) 393-3000

Haworth, Inc.

One Haworth Center

Holland, Michigan 49423

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