Like many industries, the defense landscape today faces a technology skills gap within its workforce. As the talent pool ages and technology innovations advance, there is a greater need for new workers with a highly skilled talent profile. Traditional STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) occupations and positions requiring STEM skills rank among the hardest to fill, according to a recent Society for Human Resource Management study. Defense companies face an additional challenge in attracting and, more importantly, retaining top technology talent as they face increasing competition from Silicon Valley.

As one of the world’s largest defense companies, BAE Systems, Inc. – the U.S. arm of UK-based BAE Systems plc – has a vested interest in employing the country’s top STEM workers. Realizing that competition from consumer technology companies and shifts in employee career behavior driven by generational differences (namely, more millennials entering their careers) could impact talent retention, in 2015 the company undertook a large-scale macro-economic analysis of the labor market and analyzed how it would affect its workforce.

Examining key factors – the impact of emerging technologies, STEM talent availability, competition, diversity pipeline, geographic factors and generational issues – BAE Systems ultimately identified the need for a more data-driven approach to talent retention, and has made analytics the backbone of its strategic workforce planning process. Infusing data into talent management efforts has resulted in faster and more effective response in addressing talent gaps, and helped to strengthen succession planning for critical roles within the company.

You will learn:

• The skills gap and talent competition currently facing the U.S. defense industry, and how BAE Systems is using workforce intelligence analytics to better understand how to address those issues
• Strategic workforce planning using a data driven approach
• Importance of integrating workforce planning into overall company strategy
• Diagnosing talent gaps and identifying strategic actions to close them
• Using analytics and employee demographical data to strengthen succession planning