Aerospace Industry Faces Baby Boomer Retirements
An article in the Colorado Springs Gazette suggests that there may be an opportunity for thousands of today's youngsters. The high-tech jobs in today's space industry are filled mostly with baby boomers.
The aerospace industry is loaded with workers from the baby boom generation who watched man’s first steps on the moon on live television. The average worker is 48, and experts are calling the impending wave of retirements a gathering storm.
Thousands of technical jobs will need to be filled by children now in school, and students are steering away from math- and science-based careers.
Former Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who was lauded during a symposium luncheon Wednesday, is so concerned about the problem that he has penned two books aimed at turning children's eyes skyward.
"They may not reach for the moon, but I'm sure they'll reach for something," said Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon in 1969.
The article says interest in rocket science has faded since its peak during the 1960s space race. Hopefully, new efforts, including books and space, can interest today's kids in space once again. The Hubble telescope images, like this recent image of the Pinwheel Galaxy, should be enough to motivate some kids.
Tags: aerospace-industry
| space-industry
Posted on April 7, 2006
Permalink| | | Comments (View) | |
| |
