A chance to help Aggies and other very talented folks, while helping your company
The Aggie Network received a call for assistance from some of our NASA Aggies in the Houston Area. We have learned that approximately 300 Former Students, and a LOT of other talented workers will literally work themselves out of jobs with years of experience when space shuttle Atlantis reaches “Wheelstop” at the end of the STS-135 mission this July. If you know of anyone looking for talent in the Skill sets listed below please pass this information back to them.
This is an overview provided by the NASA Aggies:
Currently planned for summer 2011, the retirement of the NASA’s Space Shuttle Program along with proposed changes to NASA’s Constellation Program has resulted in over 1400 layoffs of local (Houston area) aerospace contractors and we anticipate another 4000 to 4500 employees will be adversely affected in the Houston area.
What‘s being done locally?
A number of groups have come together at Johnson Space Center, within the Contractor companies, and across the local community to support the affected workforce. For example, Workforce Solutions opened the Aerospace Transition Center. Geared specifically for the needs of the affected aerospace workers, the services include: training, counseling, job search and placement activities, and classes on social media such as Linked In. In addition, they’ve hosted two Live and three Virtual Job Fairs with 2100 attendees and 300 employers over the five events and three Resource Fairs to prepare the aerospace job seekers for upcoming job fairs.
How can you help?
Consider this highly talented workforce as you and your company fills positions this year. And remember Shuttle Program employees work in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, and California. A point of contact for each area is listed below.
What are the skills of the Shuttle Workforce?
Here are a few of the skills you can find in the Shuttle Workforce:
Computer and information scientist
Computer Operators and Support Specialists
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineers
Cost Estimators
Mates- Ship, Boat, and Barge
Occupational Health and Safety Specialists
Executive Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
Electricians and Machinists
Computer-Controlled Machine Tool Operators, Metal and Plastic
Mechanical Drafter
Food Science Technicians
Instructional Coordinators
Paralegals and Legal Assistants
Photographers and Technical Writers
Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks
Product Safety Engineers
Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers
Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians
Document Management Specialists
Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Operations Technicians
What are the future plans in the Houston Area?
Tentative plans include:
May—Resource/Training Fair
June—Live Job Fair
July—Virtual Job Fair
August—Live Job Fair
Who to Call to connect with the talent?
Texas: Veronica Reyes veronica.reyes@wrksolutions.com
(Additional Workforce Boards and Companies)
Florida: Judy Blanchard jblanchard@brevardworkforce.com
Alabama: Mark Brown mbrown@hsvchamber.org
Louisiana: Matt Mayer matt_lhrdi@yahoo.com
New Mexico: Mark Remington mark.remington@state.nm.us
Utah: Pam Burke pam.burke@ATK.com or Dawn Lay dlay@utah.gov
California: PWR, Diane Mahon diane.mahon@pwr.utc.com
Mississippi: Cabrina Bell cabrina.d.bell@nasa.gov
