Jobs in the aerospace and defence sector have taken a dip from the pandemic high achieved at the end of November 2020, declining by 6 percent since the end of November 2021 according to GlobalData. The onset of the Omicron variant appears to have caused the decline in job listings. The data and analytics company confirms that despite the fact that the industry overall has gained significantly and job listings were up almost 54 percent in the last year – since the end of November it has decreased consistently.
William Davies, Associate Analyst at GlobalData, said “The rapid spread of the Omicron variant caused alarm in many countries and even lockdowns in some cases. The wave appears already to be peaking in those countries that were affected first but the rapid increase in cases that occurred in December and January appears to have alarmed the industry and affected job listings.”
The industries’ initial COVID-19 recovery began in the middle of 2020, enabled in large part due to government subsidies and rule exceptions which allowed continued operations as part of critical infrastructure allowances. GlobalData’s COVID-19 impact report explains that defence markets are relatively shielded from supply side shocks because of government clients and stimulus measures enacted during the pandemic assisted companies in avoiding damage.
Despite the majority of countries having allowances for aerospace and defence manufacturing to continue to operate through lockdowns, staff absences due to COVID-19 are likely to continue having a negative effect on the industry, causing delays in development and production.
Davies said “The industry will likely rebound relatively quickly as the Omicron wave subsides, but this serves as a reminder that new variants have the potential to send shockwaves through the aerospace and defence industry, and that even as we exit the pandemic there are still factors which could affect the industry going forward.”
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