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WASHINGTON, D.C., March 12 – Representatives from the aerospace industry, a labor union and the Labor Department told the House Aerospace Caucus March 10 they wanted the government to create an interagency task force to coordinate workforce policy and develop initiatives to train the next generation of aerospace engineers and technicians. Co-chaired by Rep. Norman Dicks (D-WA), and Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL), the caucus hearing was the first of a series planned for this year on challenges facing the aerospace industry. Workforce revitalization was addressed in a report issued November 2002, by the U.S. Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry, a bipartisan group chartered by Congress to determine how industry and government could best overcome critical problems faced by the aerospace industrial base. AIA President and CEO John W. Douglass told the group that the precipitous drop in aerospace employment from 1.3 million in 1989 to today’s number of less than 600,000 could be attributed in part to the end of the Cold War, consolidation, and having fewer programs to work on, but that the average age of today’s aerospace engineer—54 years—was a grave situation. The lack of young engineers in the pipeline to replace those who will retire soon is going to become a big problem, he said. “Only two percent of young engineering students enter aerospace,” he said, adding that they were entering other fields because aerospace was perceived as being a field without job stability. “Aggressive national strategies by foreign competitors to capture U.S. manufacturing market share is a growing global challenge, and I believe that the U.S. needs an ‘integrated initiative’ to create jobs that will be competitive worldwide,” said Bob Johnson, President and CEO of Honeywell Aerospace. “America must undertake comprehensive investments in research and development, as well as scientific and technical education programs for future generations of U.S. workers,” Johnson added. Ron McKenna, CEO of Hamilton Sundstrand, said, “We’ve got to bring intellectual competency up. We require a talented engineering and production workforce – more so than ever - so that we can be more productive at lower cost.” International Association of Machinists (IAM) Director of Strategic Resources Stephen R. Sleigh said that in the next four years, as many as half of the machinists in the defense side of aerospace, and one-third in the commercial sector of aerospace are expected to retire. “We need to re-evaluate the changed nature of production,” he said, “New technologies are radically changing the workforce.” Sleigh asked that industry and government expand apprenticeship programs before there is a “dramatic shortage of technical workers.” Emily De Rocco, Assistant Secretary of Labor, and Tim Huddleston, Executive Director of the Aerospace States Association, also testified before the caucus, calling for greater cooperation between industry and government at all levels to identify the specific aerospace job skills needed to ensure the industry’s long-term vitality.
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Contact: Matt Grimison, AIA |
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