Showcasing an indication of a recovery of the 'Aerospace and Aviation' domain from the historic Lows , GE AVIATION-Singapore will hire over 300 workers in 2022 to add to its 1,700-strong workforce .
The American company, that celebrated it's 40th anniversary in Singapore on Monday (Nov 22), Iain Rodger, managing director of GE Aviation in Singapore, announced the updated hiring numbers , after it had to cut the workforce by about 600 last year, to control the costs.
Trends have changed since then , the company has begun recruiting again, with about 260 roles recruited between January and September this year, GE Aviation expecting some strong Aerospace demand going ahead.
250 more roles will be recruited by the end of the year, and staff headcount will be back to pre-pandemic levels by mid-2022, said Mr Rodger , as he saw growth over the past year as airlines pivoted to cargo flights and borders began to reopen.
About 4 to 5 per cent of GE Aviation's global jet engine component repair volume was also shifted here from the United States - a big reason behind the company's current recruitment drive, which is ahead of the overall market trajectory, he said.
Some GE Aviation plants in the US were forced to shut due to Covid-19 and higher productivity at the three plants here gave Singapore the edge, Mr Rodger added.
Singapore that is vital for company's growth , accounts for over 60 per cent of GE Aviation's global repair volume.
"As GE Aviation seeks to dive deeper into each of these areas in the years to come, we are looking to further expand our team to bolster our initiatives, ensuring that we are fully harnessing the technology and innovation now in our hands," said Rodger.
Mr Rodger said most of the new roles that need to be filled here are volume-related, such as technicians for the shop floor. But his firm is also looking to hire more automation and robotic engineers as well as data analysts as it adopts new technology.
Out of GE Aviation's over 1,700 workers in Singapore, 80 per cent are local talents and the company wants more local engineers and technicians , though there have been challenges in finding people with the right skills.
The company must use the Malaysian workforce in it's drive ! So, the expected vaccinated travel lane across Singapore and Malaysia's land border "can only be a good thing for us", Mr Rodger added , while speaking to The Straits Times.
As Covid-19 infections are decreasing, global aerospace sector is making a comeback and have initiated the recruitment drives to rehire laid-off workers or fill new job roles.
Talking about Singapore Aerospace market, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Singapore Aero Engine Services – a joint venture between Rolls-Royce and SIA Engineering, US aerospace giant Pratt & Whitney and business jet manufacturer Bombardier are some of the players in the sector that have gone public about their recruitment plans in the Republic.
Manpower Minister and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng said last month that aerospace companies here are looking to fill around 1,000 positions over the next two years.
Speaking at GE Aviation Singapore's anniversary event on Monday, Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said Singapore's aerospace manufacturing output fell by 26 per cent last year and some firms had to resort to cost-cutting measures.
But with the Job Support Scheme as well as training and upskilling packages, aerospace companies and their workers are better equipped for the sector's recovery.
Mr Gan noted that the aerospace industry grew 22 per cent in September this year compared with September last year, and urged companies to build up capabilities in digital services, autonomous technologies and sustainability.
"While it may take time for air travel demand to return to normal, the industry's long-term prospects remain positive," he said.
As per The Straits Times , On Monday, GE Aviation unveiled new additive manufacturing technology for repairing engine components. Called direct metal laser melting, this process has been used to manufacture jet engine parts, but GE Aviation Singapore's plant in Loyang is the first facility in the world that has been approved to use it for repairs.
"There are parts flying with this repair already," said engineering manager Ngiam Shih Tung, 54, who led the project.
The new process, developed by local engineers with support from GE Aviation technology centres in the US and the Singapore Economic Development Board, is essentially 3D printing of metal components. Itproduces parts that require less post-processing compared with the old process of welding.
"It takes one minute to do what used to take five minutes to do and the overall effect is that each employee can produce twice as many parts," said Mr Ngiam.
