Airbus wants to hire 13,000 people in 2023, including 7,000 new jobs.

Airbus plans to hire 13,000 employees in 2023, including creating 7,000 jobs, to respond to an increase in aircraft production and prepare clean aviation technology, the European aircraft manufacturer said on Thursday.

Two-thirds of those 13,000 employees will be hired in the four main countries where the group operates (France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain), said group HR director Thierry Baril. Airbus has already hired 7,000 additional employees and 6,000 to replace natural departures in 2022, he said, which he says is a “historical record.”

“It shows the level of attractiveness of the group in a very difficult environment,” welcomed Thierry Baril, noting the dropout rate of 5%. More than two-thirds (70%) in 2022 are white-collar workers, with 27% of women more in support or engineering roles.

Posts cut during Covid

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused the aircraft manufacturer to drastically cut production and announce 15,000 job cuts, the system being revised down in favor of government assistance such as partial unemployment schemes put in place by states. As of the end of 2021, the group had 126,500 employees.

The need for additional staff is related to the increase in production initiated by the aircraft manufacturer, in particular for its A320 and A220 narrow-body aircraft. Airbus, which produced forty A320s a month during the pandemic, plans to increase production to 65 a month in 2024 and 75 “by the middle of the decade.”

Professions for decarbonization

We are also talking about hiring new professions and specialties related to decarbonization, digital transformation and cyber technologies. Airbus is studying the development of a hydrogen-powered aircraft by 2035, and the concept includes a thorough review of the aircraft’s entire architecture.

In the field of defense, it is one of the main manufacturers responsible for developing the future air combat system (Scaf) desired by Paris, Berlin and Madrid, and which will make extensive use of digital technologies that have yet to be created. The hiring will affect all divisions of the group, of which 60% are in the commercial aircraft division, 25% in the defense and space division and 15% in Airbus helicopters.