Diarto Aalders, lecturer in aviation operations at Amsterdam University, talks to Airside about why graduates still struggle to secure employment despite ongoing staff shortages
Why do you think there continues to be a shortage of staff in sectors such as ground handling, airport operations and maintenance, yet graduates of aviation programmes struggle to secure positions?
Particularly in Western Europe, we see an increasing pressure on aviation systems due to congestion issues and broader emission and noise reduction targets. There is plenty of negative media on the aviation sector that could influence graduates’ career choices. On top of that, aviation has become a part of everyday life for many, which has diminished its jet-age allure.
Also, strict regulations don’t directly inspire innovation, especially when other industries can offer greater possibilities. Of course, this is a generalisation and there is a plethora of examples of innovation taking place. The unfortunate fact is that this isn’t something that we as an industry are able to showcase well enough.
Luckily, we still see swarms of students coming into different programmes across the country and abroad. From what I see in the Netherlands, students looking for operational and practical jobs generally don’t face challenges finding one. However, my university’s programme mostly trains for office jobs and that’s where I do see students struggling to find positions, either through internships or jobs. The reason for this is not singular but boils down to three points:
- Overreliance on a single hiring manager, who suddenly leaves–taking with them the role of internship ambassador
- Lack of mandate or direct incentive to hire students
- Lack of visibility for students
To expand on the last point, students will know of big airlines or service providers, which tend to have a standardised process to bring them on. However, smaller or niche companies struggle with outreach, and often rely on word of mouth or weak networks. Moreover, the focus on urgent matters often comes at the expense of important long-term initiatives, including innovation and optimisation.
Taken together, there is an awareness of the need to renew the workforce, but few strategic objectives to guide leaders in achieving this goal.
Are there specific gaps between what employers need and what graduates are trained for?
This is an interesting question, perhaps even a paradox. On one hand, I hear many employers saying that university students are well set up for the industry with a broad set of skills and knowledge. My students, for example, often offer great benefit to companies during their internships.
Conversely, providing students with a broad set of skills means that they can lack depth on specific matters. On the day of writing this, I discussed the topics of SMS, compliance and sustainability with a colleague, which we address throughout our programme, but they don’t make students subject matter experts just yet. What we do is provide students with the ability to obtain new knowledge and skills themselves, which helps them develop what they need once they land their first job. While I strongly believe in this approach, it can leave employers feeling like there is a gap.
How do you see academia and industry better aligning to ensure students are work-ready in a competitive environment?
Interest in gaining new entrants to the workforce is an activity not often actively managed. Jobs open up, people get recruited, the usual cycle. In my opinion, being ahead of the recruitment, and engaging with local schools and universities, is the best way to get people interested in your company. This awareness ideally translates into students having a better understanding of the industry, what it has to offer, which roles exist and where they can see themselves in the near future.
Getting there requires companies to dedicate some of their time and resources in facilitating education by arranging site visits, guest lectures and internships. Simultaneously, academia should step away from rigid assignments and allow variable content that comes directly from the industry to be added into the curriculum. Doing this allows students to work on real challenges and not just textbook assignments, which increases motivation and creates an early connection with the work field.
How is Amsterdam University addressing employability skills or practical exposure for its aviation students?
If we were to dissect our programme, we would find two main structural parts: communities of learners and communities of practitioners. The first two years are focused on acquiring knowledge in small groups (communities). Typical involvement from industry comes from guest lectures. Additionally, we occasionally offer site visits although for a big programme like ours, it’s difficult to facilitate this due to the number of students we have.
The latter part of the programme is organised in communities of practitioners, meaning that we bring together students with lecturers, researchers, labs and of course companies from the industry. These communities are built around central themes at the faculty level. This allows multidisciplinary teams to tackle real-life problems, mimicking what students will later find when they start working themselves. Examples of communities that we are involved in are Futureproof Main Ports & Networks, Zero Emission Mobility & Transport, and Predictive Maintenance.
Do you see interest among your students in ground handling and airport-based roles, or are they gravitating more toward airline management and strategic positions?
For the past couple of years, we have a highly engaged ground handler at Schiphol who participates well in our programme and offers plenty of opportunities across the board. This handler has singlehandledly been a great source of inspiration and interest in ground handling. From what I last heard, they employ over 80 of our students. Standing right between the aircraft gives a unique perspective which at least allows students to make a more conscious decision as to where they want to end up. This is not to say that other stakeholders don’t also contribute. KLM has several departments researching methods to achieve operational improvements across all its business units.
What can the wider industry, airports, handlers and training organisations do to bridge the disconnect between education and employment?
I sometimes joke that I celebrate every student who arrived with dreams of becoming a pilot but has since pivoted toward a career in operational excellence. There is so much more at the airport than what people can imagine. It is our task, together with industry, to showcase what is on offer. And in that lies the crux. Engagement with local universities and vocational education cannot be emphasised enough. The question is where the responsibility for that lies, since we don’t want to rely on individuals at companies to push for a particular subject for personal reasons.
In many markets, trade associations play an active role across a range of activities, and education appears to be a natural area of responsibility for them. At Schiphol, I actively participate with Air Cargo Netherlands to map the needs in detail, create career paths, and bridge the gap between students and industry. The platform provided by a trade association makes it much easier to start collaborating, as an existing programme is already in place.
