The AICP enables companies in the sector to deliver high quality workplace experiences to young people in their recruitment catchment area. This ensures that as many suitable candidates as possible are encouraged to study subjects relevant to aerospace careers and that they are aware of and inspired into jobs that are available in the industry.
Speaking after the launch of AICP at the Royal Aeronautical Society, Mark Stewart, general manager and HR director at Airbus and chair of the Aerospace Skills Working Group within the AGP, said: “It’s important that we continue to develop the skills we need in the future and there is no better place to start than with school children. Airbus is a great supporter of the Industrial Cadets Programme and I am really pleased that we have launched an UK wide Aerospace ?Programme.”
The Aerospace Industrial Cadets Programme provides a framework for all sizes of employers to enable them to run accredited workplace for young people. Industrial Cadets ensures that these young people can develop work-relevant skills, gives them valuable workplace experience and a nationally recognised award at the end.
Dr Gordon Mizner, chief executive of EDT, the charity that runs Industrial Cadets on behalf of a leadership team comprising many of the UK’s major industrial employers, has welcomed the APG support. He said: “Industrial Cadets was inspired by HRH The Prince of Wales in 2010 and has since developed into a nationally recognised brand with his support. A number of companies in the aerospace industry have already adopted the accreditation for their work with young people.
“These efforts need to be backed up across the UK aerospace sector so that there is a drive, even at school age, to develop the skills and experiences among young people that will equip them for, and inspire them into, being the skilled recruits that the industry needs in large numbers over the coming decades.
“We are keen to talk to as many aerospace employers as possible about how they can connect with AICP to ensure that we maximise the talent pool available to the UK aerospace industry in coming years.”
The availability of appropriate skills in the UK to support the fast growing aerospace sector is crucial, as the industry reports a worldwide shortage of people with appropriate qualifications. Airbus has reported that of 12,000 jobs available in the sector in Europe last year, a quarter could not be filled due to skills shortage. The Aerospace Industrial Cadets Programme is an important part of the effort to reverse this trend in the UK.
Companies in the aerospace industry who would like explore working with the Aerospace Industrial Cadet Programme should contact Katy Evans, 07414 689901, k.evans@etrust.org.uk
