How will the aerospace industry attract the skilled employees it needs?

Across the aerospace and defense (A&D) sector, we’re on the verge of several exciting breakthroughs. Possibilities for unmanned systems, the role of artificial intelligence (AI), and the advent of the Sixth-Generation Fighter Project offer opportunities for collaboration and innovation. However, they must be prepared to engage in the “war on talent.” For the most part, the skills that the A&D industry is going to need in the coming years are the same as those that will be in demand in the automotive, telecoms, and even media industries: skills in AI, automation, robotics, model-based systems engineering, and smart manufacturing.

Beyond that, smart A&D companies will be on the lookout for people with outstanding “soft” skills: the growth of multinational consortiums means the industry will need more people who can collaborate across cultures. As the Sixth-Generation Fighter Project gets underway, engineers able to collaborate with British, Italian, and Japanese teams will be invaluable.

Those with cross-sector skills will also be in high demand, as the growth of white plants – advanced plants that can retool rapidly between A&D and other sectors –  will require a new breed of engineer, someone with strong technical skills and an unusually high level of intellectual and cultural flexibility.

Five easy pitches
In a competitive marketplace, persuading young talent with valuable technical skills to join the A&D sector could be a tough sell, but A&D has a compelling case to make:

• It’s important work. The future of democracy may depend in part on how well this generation of A&D engineers do their jobs. Even more importantly, the survival of the planet may be linked to making electric planes a success — not just because electric flight would cut down fuel oil bills but because historically, defense industry advances have often ended up helping the world at large too. (Consider, for example, that it was a US Defense Department computer networking project that eventually became the Internet).
• It’s interesting. How do you construct a battery powerful enough to keep a plane aloft, and yet ensure that it doesn’t catch fire in the air? Solving these challenges might not only make flying more sustainable but could eventually lead to advances in electric cars. Drones, too, are on the cusp of vast new possibilities and are already being configured to tackle various tasks in a whole range of essential activities, from farming to construction to warehouse management, boosting productivity and saving lives.
• Opportunities are growing. After watching several years of geopolitical crises and extreme weather, more manufacturers now believe it’s essential to keep their supply chains short. To keep their risks manageable, they’ll need multiple suppliers and multiple research and development facilities – and as defense budgets grow, they’ll be able to support their expanding workforce.
• A&D is getting more diverse. The number of women in the industry is rising. Minorities are also making progress. Women now account for more than 25.5% of the industry’s workforce, up nearly 1% since 2021. The glass ceiling is also cracking: 30.4% of executives are women, up from 28% just last year. Black (10%), Hispanic (9%) and Asian (9%) engineers are finding more opportunities, too.
• Compensation is about to get better. As defense budgets rise and airlines face more pressure to cut emissions, aeronautics companies can look forward to steady demand for more advanced aircraft. Given that 91% of executives surveyed by EY teams last year agreed that their company needed to review compensation levels, job offers are likely to get better soon.

Beyond direct recruitment, it’s worth remembering that there are other ways to expand the talent pool. Some firms are training current employees in new hard skills, such as data analytics, AI, machine learning, and cyber security, and in soft skills such as leadership. A number of them are experimenting with knowledge transfer programs between older and younger generations of their workforce.

Some companies are reaching further back into the talent supply chain, partnering with universities to offer discounted tuition programs for courses that emphasize science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills.

Selling the dream
If you think about where we are today with electric airplane engines, unmanned systems, and the rise of AI, the possibilities of breakthroughs in flight seem vast. With the right messages and programs, inspiring a generation that’s lived through one near-dystopian scenario after another to develop technology that can help change that dynamic shouldn’t be too difficult.

Stephane Lagut is EY Global Advanced Manufacturing & Mobility Assurance Leader and EY Global Aerospace & Defense Sector Leader. He is based in Tokyo.