01
Warm bodies, not skilled trades
You asked for a 5-axis machinist and got someone who ran a drill press. Generalist agencies don't know the difference between a Swiss-type and a vertical mill. They check boxes; they don't match skill sets.
Industry · Steel & Metal Trades
For shops that
For shops that
can't afford a wrong hire.
CNC machinists, welders, fabricators, setup machinists, tool and die, maintenance techs, manufacturing engineers. Cannonball recruits exclusively for steel and metal trades operations, and we know your floor.
87%
Contract-to-hire
conversion
conversion
$100M+
Trades division
Brett built before Cannonball
Brett built before Cannonball
2–3
Business days to
qualified candidates
qualified candidates
1,000+
Trades placements
delivered
delivered
The shop down the road
just poached your best machinist.
You're working with a national staffing firm that keeps sending candidates who can't hold a tolerance. Guys show up and walk off the floor after two days. Your second shift is running short. Production is taking hits. We've heard every version of this. We built Cannonball to fix it.
02
Inflated markups, zero value
You're paying 45 to 55 percent markup on a $22-an-hour press operator and the agency's contribution was an Indeed scrape and a five-minute phone screen. No skills test. No reference check. No site visit.
03
Ghost candidates and no-shows
The agency confirms a candidate for Monday. You have safety orientation ready, PPE set aside, the line expecting a body. Nobody shows. Or they show three days and disappear. The agency shrugs and says they'll send another.
04
Submitted to your competitors too
The staffing firm submits your candidate to three other shops in the same industrial park. Your offer gets countered, the candidate no-shows, or they leave after a week for fifty cents more across the street.
We know what a five-axis Mazak operator looks like
versus someone who ran a two-axis Haas in a training program.
Every position
your floor depends on.
We've placed for steel fabrication shops, machine shops, manufacturing operations, and metal trades businesses across the East Coast and Midwest. These are the roles we know how to source.
Welding & Fabrication
- MIG welders
- TIG welders
- Stick welders
- Pipe welders
- Structural welders
- Fabricators & fitter-welders
- Custom metal fabrication specialists
Machining & CNC
- CNC machinists (3, 4, and 5-axis)
- Setup machinists
- Manual machinists
- Tool and die makers
- CNC programmers
- Swiss-type operators
- Mill and lathe specialists
Manufacturing & Production
- Manufacturing engineers
- Production supervisors
- Quality inspectors & CMM operators
- Shop foremen
- Press brake operators
- Plant managers
- Operations leadership
Maintenance & Support
- Industrial maintenance techs
- PLC technicians
- Electrical & controls techs
- Hydraulics specialists
- Mechanical maintenance
- Maintenance supervisors
- Reliability engineers
We speak the language
of the floor.
Brett built a $100M+ skilled trades division at a national staffing firm before founding Cannonball. He's placed thousands of tradespeople across every kind of shop. That's the depth your search deserves.
01
Technical fluency
AWS D1.1, CWI certifications, Bridgeport mills, Mazak controls, Fanuc, Haas, plate rolling, structural steel, sheet metal. We screen at the level of detail your shop actually requires, not at the level of a job board posting.
02
Competitor sourcing
The best candidates are already employed at your competitors. We source directly from competing shops in your geography, the candidates who know the equipment, know the work, and can move when the opportunity is right.
03
Direct accountability
No account manager carousel. No hand-offs to junior recruiters who don't know your floor. Brett or a senior recruiter runs every search personally, from intake to offer to onboarding to ongoing follow-up.
Three ways
to put us to work.
Contract-to-Hire
Try before you buy. Welders, machinists, and fabricators start on Cannonball's payroll, prove themselves on your floor, and convert to permanent. 87% of ours convert. Best for production roles where on-the-floor performance is what matters.
Learn moreDirect Placement
Permanent hires for senior, specialized, or hard-to-fill roles. Manufacturing engineers, plant managers, certified specialty welders, master machinists. We handle everything pre-offer; you make the decision.
Learn moreRecruitment Process Outsourcing
We become your trades recruiting team. Best for high-volume hiring environments, multi-shift operations, and shops scaling production faster than internal HR can keep up.
Learn more
Ready to fix the pipeline?
Tell Brett what's open.
Tell Brett what's open.
He'll handle the rest.
A Talent Needs Call is a thirty-minute conversation about what you've got open, what's been tried, what's not working, and whether Cannonball is the right fit. Even if we don't end up working together, you'll walk away with a clearer picture of your talent market.
Book a Talent Needs Call with Brett
