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Job market: boosting the appeal of military MRO jobs in a context of unprecedented supply (I of IV)

March 25, 2025 - By Murielle Delaporte – Highlights from the fifth panel of the AD2S conference series entitled “The challenge of employment and skills retention in Aerospace Operational Support Services”

 

Moderated by Ms. Alina Surubaru, research program manager at the Émile Durkheim Center for Political Science and Sociology, CNRS, Sciences Po Bordeaux, University of Bordeaux, this panel brought together the following speakers (in order of appearance):

 

  • Air Force Brigadier General Frédérick Devanlay, Director of Recruitment and Youth Reserves at the DRHAAE (Air and Space Force Human Resources Department);
  • Mr. Philippe Dujaric, Director of Social Affairs and Training at GIFAS (French Aerospace Industries Association);
  • Ms. Prudence M'Bumu, Director of the France Travail agency in Mérignac. Work;
  • Air Force Brigadier General Philippe Locatelli, Commander of the Air Technical and Logistics Brigade (BATL) within the Air and Space Force (AAE);
  • Ms. Emmanuelle Roux, Head of Human Resources Development at Dassault Aviation;
  • Mr. Gilles Fonblanc, President of BAAS (Bordeaux Aquitaine Aéronautique et Spatial);
  • Mr. Jérôme Darsouze, General Manager of the Tarmaq project at the Cité des Savoirs Aéronautiques et Spatiaux.

 

This panel discussion, entitled “The challenge of employment and skills retention in Aerospace Operational Support Services”,  was part of a day entirely dedicated to the human dimension, following three days of conferences focusing on the strategic, operational, and economic aspects of aerospace MCO. During this day, young people were welcomed “not in an open house format,” but according to specific selection criteria that allowed them to “come to the AD2S site to discover the civilian and military professions” available in this field (1).

 

Ms. Surubaru began by emphasizing that, in addition to technology, ” obviously, skills are needed to fly aircraft—in other words, skilled people who are committed to their work on a daily basis.” She then introduced the seven panelists from the AAE, industry, and France Travail, who were tasked with ”helping us understand how the issue of skills arises today in the aerospace sector in general and in the military aerospace sector in particular.”

 

The panel discussion was structured around various themes defined by the moderator— “labor market analysis; how to attract skills to this sector; recruitment and training methods; innovations in this field; career management and retention”—which are here presented throughout two main themes:

 

1.    Diagnosis of the job market in the civil and military aviation sector at the national and regional levels;

 

2. Recommended solutions to increase the attractiveness of these professions at the vocational diploma (BAC Pro) and two-year college degree (BAC + 2) levels and anticipate the double challenge of a decline in the number of young French people over the next ten years and the mass retirement of a portion of the workforce in this field.

 

This article is published in four parts. Here is the first part.

 

1.    A labor market characterized by a supply that far exceeds demand

 

Military aeronautics recruiting targeting: a specific challenge in itself

 

General Devanlay began by outlining the human resources needs of the Air and Space Force, highlighting their specific nature, namely the need to recruit a young population - “a population of an age group suitable for military service (...), and therefore able to wear a uniform and accept the constraints that come with military status.”

 

In 2024, the AAE's overall requirements (all specialties combined) were estimated at around 4,000 young people, including 355 officers, which is a challenge in itself compared to industrial companies that can recruit from other population groups in terms of age and skills.

 

The second challenge identified by the DRHAAE concerns the difficulty of getting the message across that the AAE is certainly about aircraft, but not just pilots: “While we have no difficulty recruiting pilots, we still find it just as difficult to make people understand that there is a wide range of activities involving other professions and specialties.” The AAE therefore offers a very wide range of opportunities, from high school to postgraduate level.

 

The third challenge is to make the profession of mechanic attractive, as this term, traditionally used in the Air and Space Force, can be misunderstood or reductive when referring to high-level experts. It is therefore essential to promote this designation in today's society, especially among the parents of potential recruits. The AAE needs around 400 mechanics, not including recruitment for the EETAAE (the AAE's technical school located at Air Base 722 in Saintes (2)), where two-thirds of the 300 students graduating each year go on to careers in aviation maintenance.

 

General Locatelli, commander of the BATL within the Air and Space Force Territorial Command (CTAAE) at the Bordeaux-Mérignac base, confirmed these trends by mapping the MCO-A market within the AAE.

 

He began by emphasizing that a quarter of the AAE's workforce is dedicated to operational maintenance, i.e., “all actions necessary to maintain the long-term performance of weapons systems.” This means that approximately “10,000 people and 20% of the budget” of the AAE are dedicated to MCO-A.

 

Of these 10,000 people, 6,000 are specialists in aircraft systems, airframes, engines, and weapons. The latter number 1,000 and are currently being ramped up. In addition to these 6,000 specialists, there are also specialists in the aviation environment, firefighters, and around 1,500 logisticians – “two-thirds of whom are employed directly at unit level” and ensure the smooth implementation of vertical contracts at air bases – as well as 1,500 SIC Aéro personnel, illustrating the growing importance of digital technology and information transmission. To ensure the long-term sustainability of this workforce, the AAE therefore “needs an influx of around 800 sergeants and second lieutenants per year.”

 

He also highlighted the complementary nature of NSO (operational support level) – the AAE's primary mission – and NSI (industrial support level), the former aiming to “create availability very quickly in order to be able to respond to different engagement scenarios” on the national stage or in international operations and missions, and the latter being ” more focused on creating potential with efficiency,” with activity mainly in metropolitan areas in dedicated industrial structures.

 

Notes

 

(1) Introduction by General (2S) Laurent.

(2) https://eetaa722.fr

 

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