Rotary Wing Segment Is Poised For The Most Growth

A survey conducted by JSfirm, a job board and resume database dedicated to the aircraft industry, finds that most aviation companies expect to be adding staff in 2011, with a surge in hiring expected to begin in April.

"We are certainly encouraged by the fact that nearly ninety percent (90%) of companies surveyed expect to hire in 2011," said Managing Partner Sam Scanlon. "Over 325 aviation companies participated in the survey and we have learned the greatest hiring period in 2011 will likely be in the second quarter."

Scanlon said that "to get the pulse of the industry, we reached out to human resource professionals, industry executives, and hiring managers from various sectors of the industry that use our website."

Scanlon says the job market for aviation professionals is better than people may think.  "The report indicates exactly what we are seeing on our site; there are more jobs being posted every day."

Fifty-nine percent of the 328 companies which completed the online survey indicated that they had not cut any jobs in the past year, and 106 firms said they had hired 1-5 employees during 2010. 118 companies said they would be hiring as many as five people in 2011.

The firms planning to hire were mostly in the maintenance, repair, and overhaul business or aircraft operators, and 21% of the respondents said they were in the helicopter industry. Not surprisingly, then, those with maintenance skills and pilots would seem to be in the most demand in the expected surge in hiring.

The most significant barrier to hiring, reported by nearly a quarter of the companies which completed the survey, was a lack of experience on the part of applicants, followed by unrealistically high pay expectations.

FMI: www.jsfirm.com