How Sustainability Challenge Can Help Aerospace Sector Attract Talent

LE BOURGET—The aerospace sector needs to highlight its progress on cutting its own environmental footprint, as well as its potential to help other sectors become more sustainable, as part of an ongoing drive to attract more workers to boost its stretched workforce, Stéphane Lagut, global aerospace and defense sector leader at Ernst & Young (EY) tells ShowNews.

“The industry does need to work on its attractivity,” Lagut says.

“For aviation, there’s the reduction in the industry itself and then how the aerospace and aviation industry can contribute to the reduction in emissions in other sectors of the economy,” Lagut says. “That’s an area the aviation industry should emphasize, rather than always being on the defensive—that transfer of technology from aviation to other industries is going to bring a lot of positive effects."

Examples include drone surveillance contributing to predictive maintenance of ground or transport infrastructure in remote regions, as well as the development of lighter, more efficient materials for aerospace that could find applications in other areas, too.  

Industry players know that highlighting the environmental progress of a sector coming under increased scrutiny for its impact on climate change is a key part of solving a massive problem for the industry: attracting enough skilled workers.

“The messages surrounding [environmental, social, and governance issues] are the ticket for survival for the industry, not just an add-on at the end of the project. They’re the basic right to operate,” Lagut says.

He adds: “There’s the greening of the industry itself through fuels [and] improvements in engine efficiency, and we should not underestimate the infrastructure on the ground, which may have a significant impact.” Lagut notes that this would involve many factors, from recycling to better management of airspace for improved efficiency. 

“Hiring is a structural issue with the aging of the workforce. I think, like any difficulty, there’s an opportunity. With the transformation of the industry, there’s a lot of new spending, appetite for change and money to support transformation that should attract quality engineers and quality brains. That also creates an opportunity to have more diversity in the workforce," he says.

Within the industry there is also potential to forge greater links between different job roles and thus boost the crossover of skills between different areas, Lagut notes.  

“To facilitate and acceleration innovation, there needs to be more social linkage between blue-collar and white-collar roles and more transfer of experience,” he says.