Job market: boosting the appeal of military MRO jobs in a context of unprecedented supply (II of IV)

April 21, 2025 - By Murielle Delaporte – Highlights of the fifth panel in the AD2S conference series entitled “The challenge of employment and skills retention in the MCO Aero sector”

This is the second part of this series of four articles.

A national market still in crisis: “from the supply crisis to the aircraft shortage”

Representing GIFAS – which has “500 member companies, including more than 200 SMEs and, since 2022, a StartAir Club dedicated to start-ups” – Philippe Dujaric explained that employment in the aircraft maintenance sector was a reflection of the overall economic situation in the industry, which he described as “very good, but complex”: “In France, this situation is unprecedented because we have a very high order book, both in the civil and military sectors, with delivery obligations (...) and a shortage of aircraft: two years ago, we were talking about a supply crisis; now we are really talking about a shortage of aircraft...” he warned.

The causes are the aftermath of Covid and the resulting disruption of the supply chain, the conflict in Ukraine and the associated international supply tensions, as well as inflation at the national level and the transition to decarbonization and the “preparation of aircraft for the next decade”:

“The situation for suppliers is therefore extremely complicated in terms of meeting the demand from both civil and military contractors, whether in terms of financial investment, equipment or – the subject of this conference – human resources.”

To conclude this overview of the situation in the sector at the national level, Philippe Dujaric considered it to be “extremely positive and motivating,” especially since France is a world leader in many market segments, boasting a “complete industry with the leading supply chain in Europe.” However, he acknowledged that remaining competitive depends on people.He highlighted GIFAS' efforts in this area with the promotion of careers (with, for example, the Air Emploi initiative launched in 2001(1)), because “developing skills in our field doesn't happen overnight.”

Attracting the right profiles has always been a challenge, but what is changing today is the growth in employment in the aerospace sector: “By the end of 2024, we had exceeded pre-crisis employment levels by nearly 5% without regaining the same turnover, while in 2023, we broke all recruitment and apprenticeship records with a 7% increase"(2). In 2024, the number of jobs stood at 218,000, 40% of which were held by young people (including 6,000 apprentices), which is not without its problems in terms of acculturation to the aerospace industry.

With the creation of “4,000 net jobs while the rest of the country is at a standstill in terms of job creation,” the aerospace industry is doing well, but it must be able to rely on the national economic fabric—in particular the entire metalworking industry: Philippe Dujaric believes that the planned reindustrialization is crucial, “because we cannot win on our own. We need an industrial base among our subcontractors...”.

In terms of job categories, he makes a similar observation to General Devanlay and believes that, even if recruiting engineers (around 47% of the total), cyber experts and digital specialists is not easy, there is a real skills shortage at the BAC +1 and BAC +2 levels. “Aeronautics remains a technical profession (...) and that's where the problem lies,” he concluded.

Ms. Roux illustrated GIFAS's comments by discussing the experience of Dassault Aviation, which is one of the ”manufacturers with healthy order books and a consequent need to increase its engineering and skilled worker workforce.” Dassault Aviation employs 10,000 people and has been recruiting regularly since 2021: “We have recruited 1,000 people per year over the last two years, which represents a significant renewal of our workforce.”

For the HR manager, the same observation applies, namely that it is more difficult to recruit skilled workers with a vocational diploma in aeronautics than engineers. Competition is fierce because “we are all looking for the same profiles,” while supply is limited: these are “career paths that are not very popular with either the national education system or parents who want their children to continue their studies: many vocational high school graduates go on to technical college, and then perhaps to engineering schools.”

For Dassault Aviation, the first challenge is therefore to recruit the 400 "Companions" needed to keep the planes rolling off the production line, the second being to pass on skills for “technical professions requiring a high level of expertise.” The significant training and acculturation effort made by Dassault Aviation is part of its “tradition of mentoring” and “consistent mobilization of mentors.”In order to meet the commitments made in the vertical contracts, Dassault Aviation is working closely with the AAE to offer “second career opportunities,” for example, for technical assistant positions in logistics and back office functions.

Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Gironde: a dynamic regional employment pool, but “peripheral obstacles” to overcome

The findings of France Travail carried out by Ms. M'Bumu were also very positive, since while the national unemployment rate was 7.1% last September, the rate in Nouvelle-Aquitaine was 6.6% and in Gironde 6.7%. The results are therefore not far from the full employment target of 5%: “we have returned to an unemployment rate as low as that seen before the 2008 financial crisis.”

In Gironde, the number of employees in the aerospace sector has increased by 36%, indicating a “real upward trend,” but obstacles remain to be overcome in order to reduce the ratio between job offers in this sector (10,500 offers in 2023 in Gironde) and job seekers (5,200 people). The director of France Travail in Mérignac (one of the 18 agencies in Gironde) refers to what she calls “peripheral obstacles,” which include:

• digital exclusion (acquisition of basic digital skills);
• health (personalized support, access to legal services and healthcare);
• mobility, given that “industrial companies are located in the peri-urban area,” while the employment pool covers the entire region(3).

The aim is therefore to provide job seekers who live far from cities with the means to access this type of job, for example through a more appropriate regional development policy. It is also necessary to work on “the issue of attractiveness: how to work on these similar profiles, how to reach young people, older people, people undergoing professional retraining, etc.”

Another area for development highlighted is the feminization of the sector, which remains very low, with, for example, up to ”95% of men in the fitter-assembler professions.”

Notes

(1) Airemploi, an iconic association promoting careers in the aerospace industry, founded in 1999 on the initiative of GIFAS, FNAM and Air France, will become Aérométiers in 2025.

(2) According to the GIFAS press release of April 23, 2024, “2023 was a year of strong job creation, with the number of people employed in the profession rising to 210,000 men and women in France, a record high! (195,000 in 2022). The workforce grew by 7% and 28,000 jobs were created in 2023, 30% of which were filled by women and 6,000 by young people on work-study programs. Recruitment forecasts for 2024 are 25,000 to 30,000 new hires, including 6,000 to 7,000 work-study students. GIFAS has confirmed that it will intensify its recruitment campaign, “L'Aéro Recrute,” for the aerospace industry. (see >>> https://www.gifas.fr/news/2023-annee-de-la-reprise-pour-l-industrie-aeronautique-et-spatiale)

(3) For more information, see >>> https://www.francetravail.org/accueil/actualites/infographies/tous-mobilises-pour-lever-les-freins-a-lemploi.html

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