Even though a large perecentage of the aerospace and defense (A&D) workforce is nearing retirement, companies are still focusing on short-terms needs rather than long-term planning, according to an Aberdeen Group Report, sponsored by Hitachi Consulting. The report shows that the industry has its attention on industry "brain drain" while giving a backseat to other workforce challenges.
This short-sightedness is fairly widespread throughout the industry with 44% of survey respondents pointing to it as the number one challenge to implementing successful workforce planning solutions. Other challenges included "limited or no integration of data needed" (38%), "no clear vision of where growth and change will occur" (31%) and "lack of budget for workforce planning" (25%).
"Time spent working with A&D executives has shown us that most, if not all, see the retiring workforce as a large problem they're not sure how to counter. They want to be aggressive about attacking it, but they dont always know where to start," said Chris Lord, vice president, Consulting Services for Hitachi Consultings Aerospace and Defense Practice.
The two top reasons workforce solutions have become such a driving concern in the industry is, according to respondents, the "loss of critical business knowledge and skills" which tied with "changing job roles and skills" at 31%. Other concerns included "loss of retiring workers" (25%), and "changes to current business models" (also 25%).
