According to Dice’s May 2025 Jobs Report, the aerospace and defense sector saw a 15% increase in tech job postings. This was the second-highest month-over-month growth, just behind the healthcare industry. Here are a few factors that are driving this demand:
The global aviation industry is back in motion. After pandemic-related slowdowns, airlines are rapidly scaling operations to meet the surge in passenger demand. This rebound is driving the need for new aircraft, upgraded systems, and enhanced safety protocols—putting pressure on companies to hire aerospace engineers, maintenance specialists, and avionics experts at speed.
Defense budgets are growing fast. In response to evolving security threats and rising global tensions, countries are heavily investing in next-gen military technologies. These initiatives are creating a steady demand for top-tier talent, especially in systems engineering, R&D, and defense software.
Private aerospace is booming. With companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and a growing wave of startups pushing boundaries in satellite tech, hypersonics, and space exploration, the competition for talent is cutthroat. To stand out, private sector employers are luring hard-to-find aerospace engineers with 6-figure salaries, leaving state-owned companies and smaller suppliers struggling to compete for top talent.
Beyond market rebound and funding boosts, the industry faces deeper structural aerospace talent acquisition challenges. An aging workforce is leading to a wave of retirements, taking decades of institutional knowledge with it.
At the same time, rapid advancements in AI, automation, and digital systems demand new skill sets that traditional pipelines aren’t producing fast enough. As a result, aerospace companies find themselves in a tight race for talent.
The aerospace and defense industry (A&D) is reaching new heights—but not without turbulence. As innovation accelerates and demand soars for advanced technologies, the gap between available talent and urgent business needs continues to widen.
With older generation of engineers retiring, emerging tech reshaping roles, and fierce competition for skilled professionals, companies face a pressing aerospace talent acquisition challenge: how to build future-ready teams in a tightening talent market.
Rather than slowing down, many industry leaders are getting creative, rethinking how, where, and whom they hire to keep their engines running. Keep reading to learn how top aerospace companies are closing the talent gap.
This isn’t the first time aerospace has faced a talent crunch—but today’s pressure may feel more challenging than ever. With demand rising and skilled candidates harder to find, the impact goes beyond delayed hiring. It affects production timelines, innovation cycles, and long-term competitiveness.
To keep moving forward, companies are rethinking how they attract and retain talent. That means investing in future pipelines, looking beyond borders, and using tech not just to build products, but to build teams. Let’s take a close look at how they’re doing it.
The aerospace and defense industry (A&D) is reaching new heights—but not without turbulence. As innovation accelerates and demand soars for advanced technologies, the gap between available talent and urgent business needs continues to widen.
With older generation of engineers retiring, emerging tech reshaping roles, and fierce competition for skilled professionals, companies face a pressing aerospace talent acquisition challenge: how to build future-ready teams in a tightening talent market.
Rather than slowing down, many industry leaders are getting creative, rethinking how, where, and whom they hire to keep their engines running. Keep reading to learn how top aerospace companies are closing the talent gap.
According to Dice’s May 2025 Jobs Report, the aerospace and defense sector saw a 15% increase in tech job postings. This was the second-highest month-over-month growth, just behind the healthcare industry. Here are a few factors that are driving this demand:
The global aviation industry is back in motion. After pandemic-related slowdowns, airlines are rapidly scaling operations to meet the surge in passenger demand. This rebound is driving the need for new aircraft, upgraded systems, and enhanced safety protocols—putting pressure on companies to hire aerospace engineers, maintenance specialists, and avionics experts at speed.
Defense budgets are growing fast. In response to evolving security threats and rising global tensions, countries are heavily investing in next-gen military technologies. These initiatives are creating a steady demand for top-tier talent, especially in systems engineering, R&D, and defense software.
Private aerospace is booming. With companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and a growing wave of startups pushing boundaries in satellite tech, hypersonics, and space exploration, the competition for talent is cutthroat. To stand out, private sector employers are luring hard-to-find aerospace engineers with 6-figure salaries, leaving state-owned companies and smaller suppliers struggling to compete for top talent.
Beyond market rebound and funding boosts, the industry faces deeper structural aerospace talent acquisition challenges. An aging workforce is leading to a wave of retirements, taking decades of institutional knowledge with it.
At the same time, rapid advancements in AI, automation, and digital systems demand new skill sets that traditional pipelines aren’t producing fast enough. As a result, aerospace companies find themselves in a tight race for talent.
This isn’t the first time aerospace has faced a talent crunch—but today’s pressure may feel more challenging than ever. With demand rising and skilled candidates harder to find, the impact goes beyond delayed hiring. It affects production timelines, innovation cycles, and long-term competitiveness.
To keep moving forward, companies are rethinking how they attract and retain talent. That means investing in future pipelines, looking beyond borders, and using tech not just to build products, but to build teams. Let’s take a close look at how they’re doing it.
To address aerospace talent acquisition challenges, companies are offering competitive salaries and the chance to work on advanced, high-impact technologies. From next-generation aircraft to autonomous systems, the work is technically complex and future-focused.
Average labor income in the sector has reached $112,000 per job, well above national averages. And with a 4.8% increase in workforce size from 2022 to 2023, the industry is clearly ramping up hiring faster than most others.
For skilled engineers, this combination of compensation and meaningful, cutting-edge work makes aerospace an increasingly attractive field.
To ensure a steady flow of skilled workers, aerospace companies are investing locally by building talent from the ground up. Public-private partnerships with technical schools are playing a growing role in this effort.
By supporting work-based learning programs, internships, and career pathways starting as early as K–12, companies are helping prepare students for careers in the A&D sector. Beyond immediate aerospace talent acquisition goals, these early investments aim to strengthen the connection between industry and community.
To stay ahead in a highly specialized and competitive industry, aerospace companies are looking beyond their home markets to build distributed R&D capabilities. By establishing engineering and innovation hubs in other countries, they gain access to deep talent pools and cost efficiencies. Here are a few examples:
These global centers are not just extensions—they're critical innovation engines. By embracing international talent, aerospace companies are creating agile, multidisciplinary teams that can solve complex challenges faster and more efficiently.
With a quarter of the aerospace workforce nearing retirement, the A&D industry is at risk of losing decades of hard-earned expertise. As seasoned professionals exit, the challenge isn’t just finding new aerospace engineers for hire—it’s making sure their knowledge doesn’t leave with them.
To address this, many organizations are turning to traditional apprenticeships and emerging technologies like extended reality (XR). These tools are helping transfer critical skills and competencies to newer aerospace workforce and reduce the time it takes to get them fully operational on complex systems.
In the Aerospace & Defense sector, precision planning is second nature—when it comes to parts and production. Now, companies are applying that same discipline to workforce planning. By using AI-powered tools, they’re aligning staffing needs with product timelines and engineering skills gap required in the aerospace industry.
This shift allows teams to anticipate talent needs earlier, adjust hiring strategies in real time, and build a workforce that’s as resilient and future-ready as the technology they produce.
Addressing today’s aerospace talent acquisition challenges requires more than incremental change. As the demand for skilled professionals rises and workforce dynamics evolve, aerospace and defense companies adopt fresh strategies to stay ahead.
Whether through global hiring, early talent development, or smart use of emerging technologies, success will depend on how boldly and thoughtfully organizations approach workforce planning.
At ALLSTARSIT, we believe the companies that view talent as a core asset—not just a resource—are the ones shaping the future of any industry. Reach out to explore how we can support your talent strategy.
The aerospace and defense industry (A&D) is reaching new heights—but not without turbulence. As innovation accelerates and demand soars for advanced technologies, the gap between available talent and urgent business needs continues to widen.
With older generation of engineers retiring, emerging tech reshaping roles, and fierce competition for skilled professionals, companies face a pressing aerospace talent acquisition challenge: how to build future-ready teams in a tightening talent market.
Rather than slowing down, many industry leaders are getting creative, rethinking how, where, and whom they hire to keep their engines running. Keep reading to learn how top aerospace companies are closing the talent gap.
