Workforce
2012 – U.S. Space Industry Salaries
The space workforce consistently commands high average annual salaries; in 2012 the average space salary was $##. These high salaries reflect, in part, the fact that space jobs often require advanced skills and high levels of educational attainment.
2012 – Trends and Events Affecting U.S. Employment
Trends among the six sectors examined have remained fairly consistent over time, with the Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing and Federal Space Research and Technology categories increasing over periods of 1, 5, and 10 years.
2012 – U.S. Space Industry Employment
There are hundreds of space companies distributed throughout the United States, including small businesses with fewer than 50 employees and large organizations with thousands of individuals. A sample of these companies is provided in Exhibit 4c.
2012 – Official U.S. Workforce Statistics
The U.S. space workforce declined by ##% from 2010 to 2011, continuing a five-year trend of annual decreases, with the total now approximately ##% below the average employment level from 2001 to 2011. NASA’s civil service workforce remained relatively steady. Layoffs related to the end of the Space Shuttle program continued to affect former shuttle contractors through 2012, although there were signs of recovery in some space-centric regions by the end of the year.
Workforce: Workforce and Education – TSR 2012
2012 – Industry Outlook
2011 – European Space Workforce – Snapshot
The nonprofit European space industry association Eurospace tracks European space employment through annual surveys of European space-related companies, as well as multinational space companies employing personnel in Europe. In 2010, the Eurospace methodology evolved to include more European companies, reclassify some companies formerly counted in one space industry sector to another, and reflect movement of some European space employees from one country to another. As a result, although European space employment posted growth between 2009 and 2010, some of the increase was due to the expanded number of companies surveyed. Similarly, some of the changes in European space employment by sector or country are attributable to differences between the new accounting and the old.
2011 – U.S. Space Workforce – Snapshot
The ongoing impacts of the economic slowdown and the reductions in NASA’s contractor workforce are not the only issues affecting U.S. space industry employees. The American aerospace workforce is aging. As shown in Exhibit 4k, the ages of both the NASA workforce and the broader aerospace workforce are clustered in the 40- to 60-year age range.
2011 – NASA Geographical Distribution Snapshot
As of July 2011, the number of employees associated with the shuttle program nationwide had dropped to approximately ## contractors and ## civil servants for a total of ## employees, compared to a high of ## during the 1990s. NASA workforce planners estimate that the number of shuttle contractors will be reduced to ## by the close of FY 2012, and from there to ## contractors during FY 2013.
2011 – NASA Workforce – Snapshot
In 2011, NASA’s Space Shuttle Program came to an end. The shuttle program had been a major source of employment for the U.S. aerospace workforce. Anticipating the retirement of the shuttle, NASA developed strategies and policies for the transition of the government and contractor workforce, expecting that when the shuttle program concluded, many of the associated professionals would transition to the Constellation Program. However, funding for the Constellation Program was cancelled under the U.S. fiscal year (FY) 2011 federal budget.