Aviation Week & Space Technology
08/20/2007, page 84
Carole Rickard Hedden
Phoenix
European A&D industry aims for growth through focus on education and training
Printed headline: Scrutinizing Skills When aerospace/defense leaders met July 4 in London to discuss workforce issues in the U.K., concern focused on growing the industry and assuring there are sufficient skills across the workforce to sustain innovation, design and systems engineering.
Today, U.K. industry leaders are identifying their core competencies, and analyzing what workforce skills will be needed to fill critical gaps.
It’s a model that may be instructive for other European countries. With a base of 80,000 aerospace and defense workers, the industry isn’t pushing for a dramatic increase in headcount—the estimate by the AeroSpace and Defense Industries Assn. of Europe is for 2.1% job growth this year—but rather a sharper focus on the skills required to compete successfully.
Rolls-Royce and other U.K. companies are developing a five-step process based on supply chain excellence to fill skill gaps.Credit: ROLLS-ROYCE |
For instance, in the U.K.’s northwestern region, home to Qinetiq, the focus is on advanced materials development and composites. Within that region, there is a focus on building this capability and creating new opportunities for innovation. Industry leaders are sharing these plans directly with the universities to influence curriculum development.
“There are particularly acute shortages in technical engineering, computer numerical control machine operations, computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacture,” says Paul Everitt, director of communications and civil air transport at the Society of British Aerospace Cos.
Joachim Szodruch, co-chairman for the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research (Acare) in Europe, told Aviation Week & Space Technology earlier this year that government research organizations alone will need 1,500 new scientists in the near term. (AW&ST Feb. 5, p. 49). Engineers going into aerospace/defense employment will need to increase by about 20%, according to Acare estimates.
Similarities exist between the workforce challenges in the U.S. and Europe. Europe’s industry faces intense competition for engineering, math and science graduates—particularly in sectors such as biotechnology and automotive, which offer higher salaries. Skills common to biotech, automotive and aerospace include: advanced materials engineering, electronics/avionics and systems engineering.
Unlike the U.S., however, European countries have more students wishing to enroll in engineering programs than there are seats available. This mandates that European industry leaders attract more of these students through technological challenge, resolving the leadership and governance issues that have plagued large employers such as EADS, and develop intern programs for students at university and younger to provide hands-on exposure to different types of work.
While the U.K. seeks to integrate this effort across several regional organizations, the problem becomes more complex for the European Union as a whole. Academic standards vary, as do work rules and work environments. Adding to the workforce challenge in Europe are the high production rates for new commercial aircraft at Airbus and the centers of excellence. The result is a greater demand for more skilled touch labor, as well as systems engineers, program managers and people skilled in risk management and avionics and electronics.
While the U.S. aerospace/defense industry predicts job growth of about 7% for 2007 (on a base of 635,000 jobs), the European workforce is growing by approximately 2%. Note, though, this relatively small percentage comes despite the loss of just more than 2,000 jobs in the space sector during the past year.
Job growth and skills development also are linked to efforts by specific countries to establish centers of excellence. In addition to the strong concentration on advanced materials in the U.K., there is substantial investment in collaboration and product sustainment in the Netherlands. Eastern European countries are emerging as an important link in the supply chain, too.
In the instance of the U.K. and advanced materials, the focus is on developing level 3-5 composite design, production and technician skills. Systems engineering preparation within the U.K. is currently running at capacity. In the model unveiled at the London conference, a five-step process, based on supply chain excellence, is being developed to fill the gaps. The goal is to enable companies to advance from developer/performer to contender in areas such as collaboration, innovation and strategic business planning.
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