Paul Oxley
Director General of ADS Skills
Few sectors can claim a legacy as rich as the UK’s aerospace industry. For more than a century, it has shaped how we travel and communicate, taken people to the edge of space and supported thousands of well-paid, highly skilled jobs.
Yet, just as the industry prepares for its most ambitious engineering feat to date, developing the next generation of aircraft, few would expect a skills shortage to be its most acute challenge.
The UK’s aerospace sector supports more than 100,000 highly skilled jobs, including over 6,000 apprentices across the UK. It leads all UK industries in job quality, offering secure, well‑paid roles with long‑term prospects. Yet, the sector is feeling the strain of an increasingly tight labour market.
As the trade association for the sector, we’re ensuring the workforce keeps pace with this challenge, working closely with Government partners to ensure the policy framework supports the ramp-up ahead. We’re also working with colleges, training providers and the newly announced Technical Excellence Colleges so that young people have the resources and skills to move into our industry.
It’s hard not to ask what the impact would be if even a fraction of those young people went on to join our industry or were simply inspired to choose a STEM subject at school
Reigniting the imagination for aerospace
With half the world’s aircraft flying on wings made in Wales, and jet engines built in Derby taking off somewhere every two and a half seconds, this industry is very much alive and thriving, and it seems the younger generation is catching wind.
Through the UK Youth Rocketry Challenge, ADS has spent the past 20 years encouraging students from secondary schools to design, build and launch their own model rockets. This year alone, more than 1,600 students took part. It’s hard not to ask what the impact would be if even a fraction of those young people went on to join our industry or were simply inspired to choose a STEM subject at school.
Embedding an engineering mindset
Industry cannot do this alone. The Government also has a role in making aerospace an attractive and accessible option, not just for apprentices and graduates, but for career changers and new entrants. Industry, Government, education providers, parents and careers advisers all need to be pulling in the same direction.
