Sunday, August 18, 2013

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs in Space!

Statistics from the June 3rd, 2010 article "You're no Rocket Scientist" which stated that "this celebrated job demands a lot of education and know-how and the pay isn't what you think." Photo c/o Baseline Magazine.

According to a 2011 Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) position paper, the US is "not producing enough qualified workers to fill important jobs at aerospace companies and the shortfall will increase as retirements grow."

The paper indicates that, "among our largest companies, 57 percent of the workforce is 45 or older, meaning that within 10 years well more than half of their employees will become retirement eligible. Fifteen percent of the aerospace engineering workforce will be eligible for retirement in 2012. Among our largest companies, 29.43 percent of the engineering workforce will be eligible to retire in 2016."

All of which, while it might not seem like good news to the overall industry, is certainly good news to anyone looking to make a career as an astronaut or a rocket scientist, especially if they're willing to relocate. Those looking to work in the space industry might want to check out some of the sites listed below.

  • Astronauts4Hire - A US based, 501(c)(3) non-profit formed in 2010 to recruit and train qualified scientists and engineers for the rigors of spaceflight. The organization conducts a range of activities related to commercial astronaut workforce development and train its members as professional astronaut candidates who can assist researchers, payload developers, and spaceflight providers with mission planning and operations support.
  • The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Career Page - Interesting background on CSA hiring policies, procedures and opportunities for students, fellowships and funding. The CSA is also home to the Canadian Space Directory, a listing of 100+ organizations directly involved in Canada's space industry.
  • HE Space - Denmark  based, specialist supplier of manpower for space programs with offices in the Netherlands, Germany and the US. The firm also manages the Jobs in Space Linked-In group.
  • Jobs in Space - The global space industry forum for posting vacancy notices and resumes.
  • The NewSpace Global listing of top 300 NewSpace companies - This list is divided up into three smaller lists covering the 100 most influential privately held newspace companies (the NSG 100), a second list covering 100 additional privately held newspace companies perceived as being "on the bubble" of growth (NSG OTB) plus a third list of top rated publicly traded space companies (the NSG PTC). A surprising number of companies on these three lists are Canadian and a surprising number of the rest have offices and employment opportunities in Canada.
  • The Space Job Center - Czech Republic based employment service focused on the space industry founded in 2010 by "a group of professionals from different industries that transitioned to the space sector."
Expect the industry pay rate to increase over the next few years as retirees open up positions needing to be replaced and the industry continues to grow. 

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