[Satellite News 01-12-09] Despite a U.S. Department of Labor report showing that the U.S. unemployment rate is at a 16-year high of 7.2 percent, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) still expects industry employment rates to hit its year-end mark of 655,500 jobs, spokeswoman Alexis Allen told Satellite News.
    The aerospace industry is expected to add 10,000 workers to its ranks in 2008, closing the year with 655,500 direct employees, according to “Launching the 21st Century American Aerospace Workforce,” released Dec. 22 by AIA. “While we won’t have specific numbers for December until the end of January, we’re holding steady with our projection,” said Allen.
    The strength of the industry can be attributed to robust sales, which AIA expects to total approximately $204.4 billion after 2008 is calculated. Exports also were expected to grow to $99 billion in 2008.
    But these figures do not exclude the industry from job loss entirely. Aerospace-related manufacturers are seeing lay-offs. Alcoa, which makes aluminum for the U.S. defense and aerospace industries from its Iowa-based facility, announced Jan. 6 that it will lay off 13 percent of its global workforce. In the announcement, Alcoa spokesman John Riches said it was unclear how many of plant’s 2,100 employees will be cut.
    Bath Iron Works, a Maine-based supplier of metals to the aerospace industry, announced Jan. 8 that it will lay off 179 union workers later this month, the largest job cut for the plant in at least three years.
    These losses could be offset by reported job growth in other areas of the United States. Gov. Bob Riley (R) of Alabama, in a Jan. 8 statement, said thousands of new jobs have been created in his state in the automotive, aerospace, biotechnology and manufacturing sectors with several new plants coming on line in 2009 and 2010.
    The Richmond Times Dispatch reported that Northern Virginia has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at 4.4 percent, helped in part, by the surrounding aerospace and biosciences industries located there.
    The AIA report also outlined employment issues beyond the weak global economy. According to the organization, the aerospace industry is faced with the loss of a significant portion of its skilled workforce as current employees near retirement. Almost 60 percent of the workforce was age 45 or older in 2007 and reaching — or already at — retirement eligibility. The report said a younger wave of professionals has not materialized to replace them.
    AIA could not distinguish how much of its projected 2008 job figures specifically reflect the space industry at this time.