Bold legislation to tackle shortages in the aerospace workforce has received unanimous backing from the US House of Representatives.
It has passed a bill to create a taskforce of 11 federal agencies, including NASA, to attract new talent to the industry through scholarship, training and recruitment programmes.
They will work with the private sector and state governments to reverse the ageing demographic of US aerospace workers: 27% of employees are eligible for retirement in 2008.
Under the bill, supported by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), the taskforce will report to Congress on their progress in recruiting for science, engineering, maths and vocational trades. John Douglass, AIA president and chief executive, says: “This legislation will galvanise the resources of the public and private sectors to expand science and engineering recruitment across the entire industry, ensuring aerospace companies can rely on a steady stream of technically qualified professionals.”
The legislation is the result of recommendations by the Commission on the Future of the US Aerospace Industry.
It says the lack of framework for developing a technologically trained workforce could lead to “intellectual and industrial disarmament” and pose a “threat to our nation’s capability to continue as a world leader”.
Source: Flight International