Aviation Week Network today announces the 2020 Workforce Study findings, coming at the height of change and transformation across the industry brought about by business and health challenges. The 2020 study looked at critical areas within this context — reskilling and continuous learning for employees, the changing dynamics of the workplace, and how to maintain stability in the face of dynamic market changes.
Aviation Week Network collaborated with computer science and engineering, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) on the annual study.
“The current environment is truly a unique point in the history of this industry,” said Greg Hamilton, president of Aviation Week Network. “The industry had to trim jobs to handle the Covid-19 pandemic and reduction in build rates for commercial aircraft while ensuring that employees considered essential to national defense and security could safely and efficiently maintain productivity rates.”
Among the findings for this year’s study is that more than 72,000 people were hired by the industry in 2019, offset by layoffs in 2020 that totaled 113,000 by mid-year. Originally, the numbers for hiring were forecast to be similar for 2020, continuing a seven-year growth in jobs.
“As the industry has pivoted to meet the current challenges, the transformation to digital operations has accelerated,” said Daniel Dumbacher, executive director of AIAA. “Not only is this allowing engineering teams to work more collaboratively than ever before, it has accelerated the speed of innovation and new engineering design and production concepts.”
Scott Thompson, leader of PwC's US Aerospace and Defense practice, echoed Dumbacher’s point. “Transformation tends to speed up in times of crisis. Digital transformation was already in progress. However, because of the contraction in commercial aviation and social distancing in all aspects of manufacturing, transformation and automation are accelerating both on the factory floor and in the back office. The industry is working to preserve capability while reacting to market forces."
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