SPACE COWBOYS II
Obviously, Stephen Green, citing Ed Lambert, warns of the graying of the aerospace industry:
Aerospace workers ages 30 or younger constitute less than 7 percent of the industry’s labor pool, compared with 18 percent in 1987, according to industry data.
One wonders how much of that is a function of ratcheting entry requirements? If you now have to have a masters or doctorate to get in the door, then you are going to be in your late 20s at the earliest. And, of course, it’s illegal to make the geezers retire just because they’re geezers.
Still, Stephen points to some legitimate concerns here:
But how are we supposed to keep designing first-rate weapons (not to mention compete with heavily-subsidized Airbus for civilian liners), when our workforce is shrinking and Washington is limiting work visas?
One would hope the market would adjust for this, leading more Americans to go into the field and/or industry will lobby government to change the visa requirements. We train a staggering percentage of the world’s scientists and engineers; all we need to do is keep them.
