UK aerospace industry faces engineer shortage as AI draws talent

At the Farnborough airshow in England, 17‑year‑old British student Hassan Butt expressed his enthusiasm for aviation, highlighting the sector’s efforts to attract young talent. Industry bodies warn that the UK aerospace and defence sector is short of roughly 10,000 specialised engineers each year, with more than half of licensed engineers over 50 and fewer than 10 % under 30, according to a Royal Aeronautical Society report.

The shortage is attributed in part to AI and other emerging technologies siphoning skilled workers, while many firms have reduced or scrapped long‑standing apprenticeship programmes in favour of entry‑level jobs and graduate schemes. Trade group ADS chief executive Kevin Craven said the sector has grown 31 % over the past decade but the talent pipeline has not kept pace, even as the industry faces a record order backlog and companies such as Boeing and Airbus ramp up production. Efforts at the airshow—including contests, engine‑building exercises and Top‑Gun style displays—aim to spark interest among Generation Z and Alpha, but competition from other sectors offering higher salaries remains intense.