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US aerospace and defense sector braces
for potential brain drain as Cold War
workers retire
4/30/2008 |
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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.
While U.S. universities are awarding two-and-a-half
times more engineering, math and computer science
degrees than they did 40 years ago, defense companies
must compete with the likes of Google, Microsoft and
Verizon for the best and the brightest.
"It's about choices," said Rich Hartnett, director of
global staffing at Boeing Co. "There are so many more
options today with a proliferation in the kinds of
degrees and career paths that people can follow."
Industry leaders are doing their best to emphasize the
allure, and growing importance, of jobs linked to
national defense.
For the rest of the article:
International Herald Tribune |
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