Mission Ready: GE Aerospace Leads in Boosting America’s Skilled Workforce and Defense Industrial Base

The strength of our national security is our people — dedicated service members and civilians as well as highly skilled men and women in defense-supporting industries across the country. Welders, machinists, and technicians are critical to producing and maintaining the advanced aircraft and equipment our military relies on. 

Yet the United States faces a growing shortage of technical talent, with an estimated 3.8 million manufacturing jobs that will need to be filled by 2033. The aerospace and defense sector is growing by nearly 5 percent each year, but 56% of companies are struggling to hire skilled manufacturing workers, according to a study by the Aerospace Industry Association. 

To ensure the industry can keep up with the demand and deliver for our military, industry leaders, including GE Aerospace, are investing in training to close the skills gap. 

A $30 Million Commitment to Support Jobs Training

The GE Aerospace Foundation recently announced a new five-year, $30 million commitment to training 10,000 people for highly skilled manufacturing roles across the aviation industry by 2030. The effort, said Chairman and CEO Larry Culp, is part of a campaign to ensure that aerospace “not only has the capacity but the capabilities to fulfill the missions that we see in front of us.” 

To revitalize U.S. manufacturing, including the defense industrial base, the flagship initiative will help jobs programs across the country purchase state-of-the-art training equipment, hire new instructors to expand coursework, and mitigate financial barriers for students. It’s an investment in America’s future with a clear goal: preparing graduates for advanced manufacturing careers that offer high growth potential while ensuring the strength of the manufacturing and defense workforce.

Paving New Career Paths for Military Veterans

The GE Aerospace Foundation also just announced a new $500,000 commitment to the Manufacturing Institute’s Heroes MAKE America Initiative, a program that trains military personnel for civilian roles as aviation technicians. The donation will fund the creation of a new certification program for aircraft and powerplant maintenance technicians near Fort Bragg, North Carolina, helping veterans, National Guard members, and reserve members transition successfully into new careers. 

“We’ve got a challenge as an industry: a shortage of skilled workers,” Christian Meisner, chief human resources officer at GE Aerospace, said when he announced the Heroes MAKE America partnership in October. “These are skills you don’t learn in a weekend — they take months and years. GE Aerospace has the partnerships to train our people… [and to] support those who [have] served.” 

Building on a Legacy 

These new programs expand on the company’s longstanding dedication to working with schools, communities, and industry to strengthen the talent pipeline. Earlier this year, GE Aerospace and the GE Aerospace Foundation announced more than $2.5 million in donations to existing workforce training programs, including a $1 million contribution to expand the Advanced Manufacturing Training Expansion Program (AMTEP) in the Massachusetts North Shore region. The foundation also provided additional funds to train aviation maintenance technicians and mechanics at schools across the country, including Vaughn College in Queens, New York; Cincinnati State in Cincinnati, Ohio; Tarrant County Community College in Fort Worth, Texas; and the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. 

“To advance the future of flight, we must invest in the people who will build it,” Meisner said. With its dedication to jobs training programs that benefit individuals and their families, as well as the aerospace and defense industry, GE Aerospace is showing its true colors.