Four years after the shutdown linked to Covid-19, the sector is in good health. With an order book of 8,598 aircraft at the end of 2023, representing twelve years of activity, the principal Airbus is on cloud nine and wants to accelerate production. To maintain this pace, the sector must strengthen its teams. “In 2023, the objective of 25,000 recruitments has been achieved”welcomed, in the first days of January, Guillaume Faury, the boss of Airbus and president of the French Aeronautical and Space Industries Group (Gifas).
This represents an increase of just over 10% in the workforce of the 200,000 in the sector, which has also just returned in terms of employment above its pre-Covid level. In net terms, the workforce increased by 4%. And, for 2024, Gifas is counting on 25,000 new hires. Which will not be an easy task. Because all companies are looking for the same profiles. So, to stand out, they show initiatives to attract candidates.
In November 2023, the Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse group, manufacturer of air systems for the entire A320 family in particular, led a communications campaign to recruit forty assembly mechanics. The system manager put up posters in the metro and bus shelters. At the same time, he organized a “hunt for candidates on social networks”. “We have strengthened our recruitment team for sourcing activities”, explains Jérôme Noyer, human resources director of the equipment manufacturer. “Our desire is to develop a pool of candidates with whom we exchange to present the group. »
“You have to be inventive and get by”
On February 5, this subcontractor launched a new seduction operation, called Experts’ Meeting. For this event (the sixth since 2018), change of scenery. Privatized, the Toulouse museum L’Envol des Pioneers, which traces the history of aerospace, will serve as a showcase for the selection of thirty experienced engineers (product designer, test and industrialization engineers, etc.). “We want to put them into the company by allowing them to discuss with general management and experts. They can also discover our products presented in a show room », assures Jérôme Noyer.
But in Cologne, a Gers village of less than a thousand inhabitants far from the Toulouse aeronautical activity zone, finding the right candidates is not easy. “We can’t find the perfect profiles in time”admits Jérôme Joulié, operations director at Hensoldt Nexeya France. “You have to be inventive and get by. » The company of around sixty employees, specializing in aeronautical tools, favors temp agencies and France Travail, formerly Pôle emploi. Moreover, in 2022 and 2023, she benefited from financial assistance as part of the “operational preparation for individual employment” (POEI) system. This boost contributed to the training of twelve job seekers.
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