The company is also working with local high schools that teach students the building trades. “We’ve had a few coming by, hoping they’ll want to work here when they graduate,” Mr. Willey said.

As for workers, in national surveys they have complained for years about sluggish wage growth and nipped opportunities for advancement.

A growing number of workers say they are willing to take the risk of hopping to another job in search of higher pay and more responsibility, according to Gartner, a research and consulting firm that conducts a quarterly national survey of 20,000 employees at companies valued at $100 million or more.

“One of the things we’ve seen is that it’s harder for employees to get promoted nowadays,” said Brian Kropp, vice president for human resources at Gartner. In 2006, for example, it took an average of about two and a half years to get a promotion, compared with four and a half years now.

The result has been growing dissatisfaction and resentment. The share of employees who say they are willing to go above and beyond at work has dropped, Mr. Kropp said. One in four employees used to report giving work an extra oomph — something Gartner calls “discretionary effort.” Now, it’s closer to one in six.

The reason, Mr. Kropp said, is simple: Workers are not being rewarded for their efforts.

At Western, business has been good enough that the 82-year-old company is scouting for a location to build a bigger factory. Mr. Willey, though, is worried that the economy will cool over the next couple of years.