31 January 2025
by Sarah Morgan

Fight to launch space talent

As SpaceCareers.com re-launches, cautious welcome comes from a specialist recruiter warning that promotion alone will not stem engineering skills shortages.

SpaceCareers.com is just one step in tackling the struggle to recruit great talent for the wider engineering sector. © Photo by NASA on Unsplash

SpaceCareers.com is a not-for-profit advisory service to support awareness of opportunities within the industry. Designed to promote engineering careers and help recruit international space industry experts. The platform supports a move away from the outdated ‘rockets and astronauts’ image the sector faces.

Recruitment company Engineering by Murray welcomes the relaunch as a positive move, but notes employers will need to be more innovative in sourcing the specialist talent required in the short term, and modes of engagement.

According to the recruiters, employers in the space sector need to look at other areas such as renewables and IT, which are more successfully building engineering talent pools.

Chris Nelson, Associate Director at Engineering by Murray, says, ‘The sector has, for too long, been largely siloed from other engineering disciplines and has struggled more than most to source skills, particularly in niche areas like embedded software, radio frequency and electronics.

'Employers will have to think laterally, and replicate employer branding and other attraction tactics seen in other STEM fields in order to find the talent required.

‘However, few employers here look further afield, limiting their access to trained engineers. The fact that demand for space expertise is scaling up means that solutions need to be identified for the long term, but, even more importantly – for now.’

The company notes the USA is investing more and more into its space sector, and it won’t be long before firms there start to seek skills from the UK, which will only exacerbate shortages. On a positive note, ‘The talent is out there, it’s finding it that’s the key.'

 

 

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