Retiring Baby Boomers Leave Hole In Labor Workforce

Let's face it. For those of a certain age, retirement is either here or not far off. And that impending "brain drain" of talent will affect the aerospace industry, as well as every other facet of life as we know it.

But since this is an aerospace publication, let's focus on how one country is addressing this particular aerospace problem.

Canada's Department of Defense (DND) is looking to partner with the private sector to develop training programs to overcome the chronic shortages of skilled aviation and aerospace technicians across that vast country, reports Canada's Business Edge.

The challenges arising from a graying workforce and the need to replenish the talent pool were topics of discussion by military officials, federal government officials, aviation company executives, technology developers, and educators at a recent Society for the Advancement of Modeling and Simulation symposium held at Carleton University in Ottawa.

"I would like to see the air force be part of a system that generates good, qualified technicians for our country," said  Lieut.-Col. Rick Thompson, an air force training officer who helped co-ordinate the Ottawa event. "If we have a well of people with knowledge about safe aviation practices, that's a good thing."

He said representatives from DND, Human Resource Skills Development Canada, and community colleges agree that the air force and aviation industry are losing skilled people, while colleges "don't seem to be taking in enough people at the rates that the nation requires."

"We concurred that we have a problem on a national scale," he said. Thompson, himself, is in his 30th year with the air force.

According to the Aviation Industries Association of Canada (AIAC), the country is home to more than 1,100 certified aircraft maintenance organizations, which generate more than $2.8 billion (US) in annual revenues and employ 17,000 highly skilled workers.

While accurate, up-to-date reports on aerospace labor demand are difficult to acquire, "demographics being what they are, we're looking at some pretty ugly numbers with the aging workforce," said Thompson.

One idea from Canadian Forces and private companies is to increase the number of skilled technicians through the use of Internet-based 3-D modeling and simulation software that can recreate aircraft components without the cost of building costly maintenance simulators.

The air force graduates 300 recruits each year from its basic training school, but would like to turn out more pilots and technicians, he added. Ottawa covers university tuition costs for recruits who sign up for a five-year stint in the air force.

The air force is also partnering with Collège Edouard Montpetit and the Nova Scotia Institute of Technology on technician training programs.

The two colleges use an air force instruction syllabus while officers are on campus to monitor students.

Thompson said the air force is trying to be as flexible as possible in its "human resource approach."

"There's a certain amount of contracting out that has to take place to keep the fleets going," he said. "There are (air force) fleets that are contemplating variations on getting more contracted assistance and then we can recycle people who are may be wanting to move to the private sector but still like the air force work. We'll hire them on contract."

Thompson said DND and the Canadian aviation industry can also partner to assist Asian markets meet rapidly increasing demand for aviation equipment, services, and maintenance.

"India, China, Indonesia - all the emerging markets - are going to have a big demand for pilots and technicians. That's going to be a challenge."

The majority of technicians, whether they are in the air force or working for an airline, are in their 40s.

Thompson stressed the DND welcomes individuals of all ages and recruiting younger officers is just one of many approaches being used to increase the labor pool.

"We're looking at what happens when those 40-year-olds turn into 50-year-olds, which is not that far off," says Thompson.

The Internet is creating many opportunities on which the air force and companies can capitalize together, Thompson added. It will also enable the air force to unify its training programs across the country.

According to Jeff Roberts, president of the innovation and civil training and services group for Montreal-based CAE, which operates 25 training centers around the world and trains technicians and pilots for the private sector and military, demand is being driven by the number of new aircraft going into service globally and the fact that traditional labor-supply sources are not as robust as in the past.

"A lot of pilots and maintenance (historically) came out of the military and the military has not seen the same number leaving their ranks - or even being in their ranks - as we've experienced in the past. One of the fallouts is the attraction to get into aerospace industry. We saw some pretty material declines after the event of 9/11. Today, we're paying the price of that to some degree."

Roberts estimates that every airplane that goes into service requires 10 to 12 maintenance people. If the global delivery average is 700 to 900 new commercial planes per year, that results in a demand for about 15,000 new maintenance technicians annually. Balance that against the number of retirements, which is expected to peak within a few years.

Historically, said Roberts, 60 to 70 percent of technicians employed at North American companies have had military experience. But with declining numbers of people entering and coming out of the military, companies have had to recruit from other sources and adapt training programs, because ex-military personnel were more "up to speed."

Calgary-based aviation industry analyst Rick Erickson said former Canadian air force personnel are not a reliable source of maintenance talent for the private sector because ex-military technicians are required to obtain provincial certification and must first take refresher courses and write exams at technical schools; many do not want to go through the training process again.

Another issue: Senior technicians have been well paid and have good pension benefits, with many leaving the industry as early as possible, often at age 55.

"That does not work to the advantage of the Forces," noted Erickson.

Typically, they can't - or at least they haven't until recently - been able to pay as much as the private sector, he added. "… part of the reason why they've gone the third-party route (for maintenance and repairs)."

Erickson said the industry has to attract more students into college programs, including recruiting expatriates working abroad.

FMI: www.aiac.ca, www.cae.com, www.forces.gc.ca