The Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) is marking World Maths Day today by calling on young people who are interested in the subject to consider a career in engineering.
With the current crisis in the financial sector, often seen as the first choice for maths students, the aerospace and defence industry, which the SBAC represents, offers excellent alternatives.
The combination of a decline in the number of young people studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics and a number of current employees approaching retirement age, the aerospace and defence sector runs the risk of not having sufficient, suitably-qualified people to maintain the UK’s position as a world-leader in this industry. In 2007 the UK represented 17 per cent of the global civil aerospace market and 33 per cent of global defence exports.
“Aerospace and defence engineering offer excellent opportunities for young people who are interested in maths and related subjects such as science, computing and technology,” said Ian Godden, SBAC Chief Executive.
“Young people studying maths at school or University may have wrongly thought that the financial services sector was the place they had to go to for a rewarding career. That is not and never was the case. Young maths students who are looking around for options will find highly-rewarding opportunities in aerospace and defence.”
In a bid to entice young people toward manufacturing and to dispel images of underpaid Dickensian jobs, SBAC pointed out that the average salary in the sector is 43 per cent higher than the UK average and 31 per cent above the UK manufacturing sector average with the sector directly employing more than 113,000 people across all regions of the UK.
