Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Chicago Tribune
March 5, 2008 By Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The aerospace and defense sector is bracing for a potential brain drain over the next decade as a generation of Cold War scientists and engineers hits retirement age and not enough qualified young Americans seek to take their place.
The problem -- almost 60 percent of U.S. aerospace workers in 2007 were 45 or older -- could affect national security and even close the door on commercial products that start out as military technology, industry officials said.
Although U.S. universities are awarding 2 1/2 times more engineering, math and computer science degrees than they did 40 years ago, defense companies must compete with the likes of Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. for the best and the brightest.
"It's about choices," said Rich Hartnett, director of global staffing at Chicago-based Boeing Co. "There are so many more options today with a proliferation in the kinds of degrees and career paths that people can follow."
Marion Blakey, head of the Aerospace Industries Association, said the U.S. could be facing another "wake-up call," similar to the 1957 Soviet launch of Sputnik, the world's first satellite.
Northrop Grumman Corp. estimates that roughly half of its 122,000 workers will be eligible to retire in the next five to 10 years. The trend is the same at Lockheed Martin Corp., of Bethesda, Md. At Boeing, about 15 percent of the company's engineers are 55 or older and eligible to retire now.
Boeing is up against telecom giants such as Verizon Communications Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. as it increased its satellite business. It even competes with video game-makers such as Electronic Arts Inc.
The industry confronts another challenge. Unlike technology companies, defense companies generally have to hire American citizens because they need employees who can obtain security clearance.
This eliminates foreign graduates of American universities and foreign employees in the U.S. on H-1B visas.
March 5, 2008 By Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The aerospace and defense sector is bracing for a potential brain drain over the next decade as a generation of Cold War scientists and engineers hits retirement age and not enough qualified young Americans seek to take their place.
The problem -- almost 60 percent of U.S. aerospace workers in 2007 were 45 or older -- could affect national security and even close the door on commercial products that start out as military technology, industry officials said.
Although U.S. universities are awarding 2 1/2 times more engineering, math and computer science degrees than they did 40 years ago, defense companies must compete with the likes of Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. for the best and the brightest.
"It's about choices," said Rich Hartnett, director of global staffing at Chicago-based Boeing Co. "There are so many more options today with a proliferation in the kinds of degrees and career paths that people can follow."
Marion Blakey, head of the Aerospace Industries Association, said the U.S. could be facing another "wake-up call," similar to the 1957 Soviet launch of Sputnik, the world's first satellite.
Northrop Grumman Corp. estimates that roughly half of its 122,000 workers will be eligible to retire in the next five to 10 years. The trend is the same at Lockheed Martin Corp., of Bethesda, Md. At Boeing, about 15 percent of the company's engineers are 55 or older and eligible to retire now.
Boeing is up against telecom giants such as Verizon Communications Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. as it increased its satellite business. It even competes with video game-makers such as Electronic Arts Inc.
The industry confronts another challenge. Unlike technology companies, defense companies generally have to hire American citizens because they need employees who can obtain security clearance.
This eliminates foreign graduates of American universities and foreign employees in the U.S. on H-1B visas.