DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Expected increases in retirement eligibility rates of existing workers,

and documented increases in voluntary attrition rates of younger

workers, combined with weak demand for future contracts (work) has

Aerospace and Defense companies facing the most challenging business

environment in recent history, according to a new workforce survey by

AVIATION WEEK and sponsored by Hitachi

Consulting.

Not since the historical drop-off in defense spending after the Cold War

has the industry experienced this kind of workforce uncertainty,

according to AVIATION WEEK Business Editor Madhu Unnikrishnan, in an

article detailing responses from A&D companies employing more than half

a million employees - approximately 82 percent of the industry's

workforce. According to the 2009

Workforce Study, and data from the Aerospace

Industries Association (AIA), findings suggest that "United States

A&D companies had cut about 30,000 jobs as of June 1, or just 4.5

percent of the total workforce," according to Unnikrishnan. "The layoffs

will almost certainly continue into 2010, \[but\] total job losses during

this downturn might be limited to 10 percent of the A&D workforce -- far

below the 40 percent eliminated in 1990-96 as the end of the Cold War

... The industry is being much more strategic in reducing the workforce."

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