Airbus aims for gender balance with female recruitment drive
24 July 2014
Aeronautics and space company Airbus Group is seeking to recruit more women to ensure gender balance in its workforce.
Wed, 23 Jul 2014
Aeronautics and space company Airbus Group is seeking to recruit more women to ensure gender balance in its workforce.
Speaking at the 2014 Amy Johnson Debate at the Farnborough Air Show last week, chief HR officer Thierry Baril told the panel: “Ensuring gender balance is a business necessity at Airbus Group. We believe that diversity fosters innovation, performance and engagement.”
The panel, organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Women in Aviation and Aerospace Committee, examined the role of women and the challenges they face in developing their career in the aerospace industry.
Jonathan Lee Recruitment, whose stand at the world-renowned air show attracted between 20 and 80 visitors a day, said 10% of the people it spoke to regarding jobs in the aerospace industry were women. They ranged from graduates to seasoned professionals and those who had been in industry and gone on to do a related PhD.
Karla Harris-Hignett, recruitment consultant for aerospace, defence and aviation at Jonathan Lee and an aerospace engineer, told Recruiter there was a lot of interest in positions in design engineering and the aerospace and automotive sector. There was also interest in supply chain roles in procurement, sales and administrative roles, and in the availability of graduate schemes.
“I’ve seen a lot of [interest] with regards to women and engineering. Very few have got just their BEng; most have gone on to do their MSc and their PhD. They really are pushing themselves within the industry to be the best that they can,” she said.
Steve Leach, sector director at Alexander Mann Solutions, agrees with Airbus’s Baril and told Recruiter: “We are encouraged by the drive of clients in this sector to address the gender balance, as we fundamentally believe that a diverse workforce leads to an increased business performance.
“The issue of women in the workplace is complex, touching wider aspects of society: desirability of career, work/life balance, the lack of female[s studying] STEM subjects. [Aerospace companies] Rolls-Royce and Cobham are running extensive programmes in schools to tackle some of these head-on.”
Alexander Mann Solutions diversity director Paul Modley added: “The key to success is culture. A change in attitudes and behaviour needs to be driven from the top of the organisation. HR professionals looking to address this should ask themselves whether their board understand the deep-seated issues, and whether they support the change needed to address them internally.”
Airbus Group – comprising Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Helicopters – generated revenues of €57.6 billion last year and employs around 139,000 people.
Speaking at the 2014 Amy Johnson Debate at the Farnborough Air Show last week, chief HR officer Thierry Baril told the panel: “Ensuring gender balance is a business necessity at Airbus Group. We believe that diversity fosters innovation, performance and engagement.”
The panel, organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Women in Aviation and Aerospace Committee, examined the role of women and the challenges they face in developing their career in the aerospace industry.
Jonathan Lee Recruitment, whose stand at the world-renowned air show attracted between 20 and 80 visitors a day, said 10% of the people it spoke to regarding jobs in the aerospace industry were women. They ranged from graduates to seasoned professionals and those who had been in industry and gone on to do a related PhD.
Karla Harris-Hignett, recruitment consultant for aerospace, defence and aviation at Jonathan Lee and an aerospace engineer, told Recruiter there was a lot of interest in positions in design engineering and the aerospace and automotive sector. There was also interest in supply chain roles in procurement, sales and administrative roles, and in the availability of graduate schemes.
“I’ve seen a lot of [interest] with regards to women and engineering. Very few have got just their BEng; most have gone on to do their MSc and their PhD. They really are pushing themselves within the industry to be the best that they can,” she said.
Steve Leach, sector director at Alexander Mann Solutions, agrees with Airbus’s Baril and told Recruiter: “We are encouraged by the drive of clients in this sector to address the gender balance, as we fundamentally believe that a diverse workforce leads to an increased business performance.
“The issue of women in the workplace is complex, touching wider aspects of society: desirability of career, work/life balance, the lack of female[s studying] STEM subjects. [Aerospace companies] Rolls-Royce and Cobham are running extensive programmes in schools to tackle some of these head-on.”
Alexander Mann Solutions diversity director Paul Modley added: “The key to success is culture. A change in attitudes and behaviour needs to be driven from the top of the organisation. HR professionals looking to address this should ask themselves whether their board understand the deep-seated issues, and whether they support the change needed to address them internally.”
Airbus Group – comprising Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Helicopters – generated revenues of €57.6 billion last year and employs around 139,000 people.
