Workforce
2012- Workforce
Trends in the global space workforce continue to be mixed, with the U.S. space workforce contracting for the sixth year in a row while space workforces in Japan and Europe saw further increases. The global space workforce includes hundreds of thousands of highly skilled individuals, often wit… Thank you for visiting The Space Report! The…
2012 – Other Space Employment
There are more than 50 countries with space programs in all regions of the world. Although it is not possible to get detailed statistics on many of these groups from year to year, it is possible to gather estimates that give some indication of overall size. Exhibit 4w provides estimates of the size of the space workforce in a variety of national space agencies.
2012 – Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Employment
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) workforce has decreased steadily over the past decade, from more than ## employees in 2003 to ## in 2012, a decrease of more than ##%. Nearly ##% of JAXA’s workforce is made up of engineers and researchers, with the remainder categorized as administrative or educational personnel.
2012 – Japanese Space Industry Employment
Japan’s space workforce included ## workers in 2011, reaching the highest level in the past 10 years. The workforce in Japan grew by ##% from 2010 to 2011, adding ## workers. Japanese space employment has grown ##% in just three years, from its low point in 2008, and is currently ##% above the 10-year average.
2012 – European Space Agency Employment
The European Space Agency (ESA) employs a staff of about ##, more than half of which are scientists, engineers, or astronauts. About ##% of the workforce is under 35, a significantly smaller portion than NASA’s ##%. The percentage of individuals within ESA that are over 54 is ##%, which is somewhat below NASA’s ##%.
2012 – European Space Industry Employment
The European space workforce includes workers from ## European countries across three segments of the industry: spacecraft, launch, and ground. The five countries with the largest workforces, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Spain, accounted for more than ##% of the total European space workforce in 2011. The workforce numbers include industries involved in designing, developing, and manufacturing space systems in the spacecraft, launch, and ground sectors. The numbers do not include the workforce of companies developing consumer devices, such as GPS or satellite television receivers, nor do they include employment by companies that carry out space services based on the exploitation of space assets, such as launch service providers.
2012 – U.S. Space Industry Outlook
The U.S. BLS Employment Projections program develops information about the U.S. labor market 10 years in the future. The most recent projections provide estimates of growth in specific occupations from 2010 to 2020. The occupational titles used by BLS for employment projections are not the same as the NAICS codes used by BLS in its Quarterly Census of Wages and Employment, discussed above.
2012 – NASA Geographical Distribution
Although NASA’s workforce remained relatively stable, layoffs related to the Space Shuttle program continued. It is estimated that more than ## individuals associated with the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida lost their jobs after the last shuttle launched in July 2011, and layoffs continued into 2012.
2012 – NASA Demographics
As of the beginning of fiscal year (FY) 2013, NASA employed ## individuals, a decrease of ##% from the start of FY 2012. This is just ##% below the average number of NASA employees from FY 2003 to FY 2013, reflecting the relative stability of NASA’s workforce since FY 2003. More than ##% of NASA’s workforce consists of scientists and engineers.
2012 – U.S. National Security Workforce
The military uses space for a wide variety of purposes, including communication, navigation, mapping, and intelligence. The military space workforce is specifically trained to be able to plan, develop, acquire, or operate defense-related space technology. The Air Force maintains the largest space workforce, with ## individuals in 2011.