The aviation industry is on the verge of a massive skills gap as not enough young people are entering the field to replace the large number of senior experts who will retire in the next decade or so. Over the next 20 years, 769,000 new maintenance technicians will be needed to maintain the world’s fleet of aircraft and Marshall Centre is doing its part to develop the next generation of talent through their outstanding apprenticeship programme. Last week, Marshall Centre welcomed its 101st cohort of engineering apprentices who will be trained to the highest level of competency to maintain aircraft safely.
The new apprentices made a great start last week. Although they had a lot of new information to absorb, they were all extremely positive about their experience so far and enthusiastic to get stuck into the workshops to learn the vital hand skills they will use throughout their careers.
"I have really enjoyed my first week and I am amazed at how many different areas I will get to work in." – Hollie
"My first week has been packed full of fun and interesting activities, learning lots about the apprenticeship and making new friends" – Brennan
"I have thoroughly enjoyed my first week at Marshall. It has been great learning about the rich history and the endless job opportunities for the future. I can’t wait to get stuck into the workshop and get going." – James
"Over the past few days, I’ve been introduced into my field of work. It has been really enjoyable learning things about engineering, which I otherwise would not have known about. I’m looking forward to experiencing all that Marshall has to offer." – Tom
Enrolment coordinator, Lucy Ling, did an outstanding job (as always) at getting the new apprentices inducted into the programme. She said, “It has been great working with the 16 new apprentices on their apprenticeship induction, and I look forward to working with them in the future; their enthusiasm to start in the workshop is encouraging and I hope they go on to achieve a lot!”
General Manager of Marshall Centre, Dan Edwards, enjoyed meeting the new apprentices and said, “September is always my favourite month of the year as I get to meet and greet the new Marshall apprentice cohort. The apprentices showed great energy, enthusiasm, and a little nervousness, but what a pleasure to engage with. Every single year the cohort seems to get better and better and I’m looking forward to watching them develop and grow over the coming months and years.”