Aviation job website JSfirm has topped the 50,000 mark of helicopter pilot and maintenance professionals in its database of job seekers. Including both active and passive job searchers specifically in the helicopter niche, the database numbered 51,669 at latest count. Jeff Richards, operations manager said, “This total grows every day and doesn’t include the hundreds of thousands of guest visitors each month, or the other 17 categories of job seekers.”
The milestone is particularly important given concerns surrounding a looming shortage of helicopter pilots and aviation technicians. JSfirm pointed to the recently released University of North Dakota study that projected a combined potential shortage of 50,000 helicopter pilots and aviation technicians through 2036. That study, conducted in collaboration with the Helicopter Foundation International and Helicopter Association International, predicted that the vast majority of that shortage would be in the maintenance arena.
"This shortage is being felt across the aviation industry,” said JSFirm managing partner Sam Scanlon. “But, with the shortage of helicopter pilots and maintenance professionals, coupled with the report from UND, it stands to reason why so many helicopter companies are active on our website: it works for them.”