Shortage of candidates: for the French aeronautics sector

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After the COVID crisis, the French aerospace industry has rebounded and has been experiencing a strong recovery for two years. Just look at the order books of the manufacturers, they are full!  But the sector is not doing so well. Like many sectors in France, it struggles to find its qualified talents.

If companies do not quickly find solutions to reverse the trend, their competitiveness could be undermined, resulting in slower growth. Solutions do exist, however. Before sharing them with you, let’s analyze the reasons for this labour shortage.

According to the French Aerospace Industries Group (GIFAS), the sector plans to recruit 50 50,000 production jobs in 2024; 30,000 engineering positions; 20 20 000 for maintenance; 10 10,000 in commerce and marketing and 5,000 in administration.

Multiple factors

1- A favorable situation for air transport

• Air transport demand is rising sharply boosted by the covid effect; it should be 100% of its pre-crisis level in 2024;
• Decarbonization requires significant development needs for new products and technologies, particularly in the field of electric flight and sustainable development;
• This dynamic benefits directly impacted maintenance and repair activities;
• The demand for people with advanced technical skills, particularly in the fields of engineering, maintenance, production and AI, has increased in recent years, creating a strong tension on these profiles.

2- The age pyramid

• The demographic curve does not favour the sector with the retirement of older workers. Replacing this skilled workforce is a significant recruitment challenge exacerbated by the widening skills gap.

3- Disrupted supply chain and operational cost pressure 

• Shortage of raw materials, price volatility associated with shipping delays impact the industry as a whole, including recruitment of new employees and retention of talent;
• Rising fuel prices and their volatility are strongly affecting the aviation sector. In order to contain their costs, companies are forced to make choices and allocate fewer resources in other areas, including recruitment and overall growth.

4- A gap between needs and training

• Although the aviation sector needs new talent, the training available is not always adapted to the needs of its companies

5- A lack of attractiveness of the aeronautics sector

• Perceived as a difficult and demanding sector, candidates turn to other sectors such as Tech (computer and digital), which are more attractive to young graduates who are less inclined to manual work.
• SMEs and ETIn particular because of their less developed brand-employer image compete with companies that deploy a battery of seduction to attract talent.

These factors combined create a complex environment for aeronautical SMEs, making it difficult to recruit and retain qualified talent, essential for growth and competitiveness in this sector.

PME-TPE: solutions and 4 axes to work with 

1. -Diversify the sources of recruitment: companies must open up to new profiles, in particular people undergoing vocational retraining or employees from other sectors or profiles without initial or continuing training
2. Ensure appropriate training for those recruited and in line with the needs of the company.  Propose the use of more tech-oriented tools, allowing to go fast and more in phase with the agility of the digital generation.
3. Strengthen the attractiveness of the company and enhance the value of manual trades: offer attractive working conditions such as interesting career prospects, social benefits and competitive salaries.
4. Give meaning: companies must highlight the interest of the missions entrusted, particularly when they concern the safety of flights and the innovative nature of the approach and tools available to teams.

Tracing Flight, the next-generation aeronautical maintenance software suite for CAMO and MRO activities, is the indispensable tool to meet all types of aircraft of different size and complexity. She will know how to onboard your teams, facilitate her work, save her time. Agile, ergonomic and user friendly, it responds to the uses and preferences of the younger generations. Designed by technicians, aeronautical and digital engineers, it meets the requirements of traceability, regulatory compliance, optimization, cost control, and operational efficiency.

Our team involved in the field, offers to support and train technicians and employees in the use of software maintenance Airworthiness Monitoring Management.  Certified Qualiopi, our training is integrated into your training budgets.

For a demo contact us ▶️ https://www.tracingflight.com/contact.php