Exception to deficit aero job market

PARIS - Whether in the U.S. or Europe, aerospace/defense sector companies face a wave of retiring workers and are struggling to attract skilled "green" personnel to replace them, according to McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. 

There's a deficit of highly skilled engineers and trade workers, said Andy Voelker, an associate at the firm. 

There is a “gray to green” workforce transition ... and a retirement bubble on the horizon where about 33% of workers in the sector are nearing retirement. 

The aerospace/defense sector has long benefited from veteran employees, but they're needed onboard now for the less experienced workers to transition. 

Green talent has fundamentally different expectations of work-life, he indicated, and that's led to attrition problems with those younger workers.

Younger workers leaving is making it harder for aerospace/defense firms to maintain a full staff, he said. 

The nature of the jobs is also undergoing a big change.

The hardware-to-software transition in the sector is real. The demand for highly skilled software engineers is “significantly outpacing” the demand for traditional engineers, he added.

There will be a 13-fold difference in the demand between the two kinds of engineers in the U.S. market over the next decade, he predicts. 

Workplace culture is also a factor, when workers decide to leave. 

Sector firms have a good reputation for aligning employees around a common vision of innovation and cutting-edge work, Voelker said. The problem is industries, such as automotive and technology, have a better reputation. 

There is more movement in and out of the sector. Employees have options and it's showing. 

Another trend is speed. Younger generation workers expect things to happen fast, but aerospace/defense firms operate at a deliberate pace, he said. 

Data show the sector lags other industries in the important factors that keep and retain talent, but it is behind when it comes to tech companies, he said. 

There is one exception, he noted: Motivation. (National Defense 07/24/23) Aerospace, Defense Industries Struggling To Attract Talent (nationaldefensemagazine.org)