Is There A Simulation and Training Talent Gap?
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Inthe face of greying demographics, it is only reasonable to ask that question.Chuck Weirauch did just that.
Some firms and organizations in the simulation and training industry are reporting a shortage of employee talent to replace retiring engineers and other key support personnel. MS&T has solicited input from a number of companies and organizations to help determine if such a situation is having a significant impact on the growth and future of the industry. The query also asked key leadership as to what could be done to mitigate the impact. A 2017 Manpower Inc. company report stated that 40 percent of employers globally are experiencing talent shortages, piquing an interest in determining if there is a comparable S&T talent shortage.
The results of the MS&T survey indicated that, while there are some reported localshortages in such areas as visuals engineers, currently there is no reportedwidespread lack of talent trend. This is, reportedly, unlike what is beingexperienced in just about every other major technical skills field in theUnited States that calls for a degree in higher education, such as informationtechnology (IT).
According to the National Training andSimulation Association (NTSA) in its reply to the magazine’s survey, theorganization lacks empirical data necessary to support the existence of ashortfall in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)-related talentwithin the M&S community. “Nevertheless, we hear from our membership of anoverall concern about actual or impending shortages in specific areas ofexpertise,” NTSA responded. This statement coincides with a US Department ofLabor Statistics analysis of the STEM shortage that states that the STEMacademic sector is generally oversupplied, while the government sector andprivate industry have shortages in specific areas.
SpecificShortages
One of the largest employers in the Orlandoarea hiring a considerable number of simulation and training specialists, theUS Navy’s Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD), is oneorganization that did report some shortages of certain S&T employees, butonly in very specific categories rather than across the board.
“For us here at NAWCTSD when we look aheadwe can see that there is a potential shortage for the right type of talent,”said NAWCTSD Commander Captain Erik Etz. “We continue to see growth in thenumber of folks that we need to support programs out in the Fleet that weprovide. For us, it’s focused on certain areas right now, not an overallshortage. When you talk about the things that we are doing, supporting theNavy’s Sailor 2025 program, we are a little bit short on the right type ofinstructional system designers and research psychologists.”
“And we see that growing”, Etz continued.“And when we look ahead at connecting our devices together, interoperabilityengineers are becoming really important to us. We are in competition withindustry, and industry is doing a lot of great thing connecting devices together,so they have the same needs. So I think that we see shortages in very focusedareas of engineering.”
So, while there doesn’t seem to be anobserved and studied widespread shortage of talent across all S&T jobcategories, the bad news is that there are some shortages. And as Captain Etzcited, competition for such highly skilled and educated personnel is increasingexponentially as new technological fields open, while the dynamics anddemographics of the workplace rapidly changes into a whole different type ofenvironment than in the past.
Randy Garrett, Vice Chair of the NationalModeling and Simulation Coalition (NMSC) and Senior Scientist for SimIS,commented that S&T requires a multi-disciplined skill set that is competingwith other talent pools, and cited the growing demand and shortage of traineddata analytic personnel.
“Mathematics, engineering, softwaredevelopment and operations research are core to both disciplines.” Garrettsaid. “Recent articles cite, for many reasons, that 40 percent of companies arestruggling to find and retain data analytics talent. These are the same skillsets that are required within the S&T fields. So we are not only seekinggood talent within the S&T community, but also competing with the largedemand for trained data analytics personnel in areas such as cyber space, deeplearning and advanced manufacturing.”
Another factor besides competition iswhether there will be enough qualified graduates to fill the STEM-relatedpositions such as those in S&T- related fields as older workers retire, andthe industry continues to grow.
Influencers
While some studies indicate a lack ofinterest in such jobs by the country’s younger generations, another issue iswhether the US educational system is providing adequate educationalopportunities for students to help mitigate any real or perceived S&T talentshortage. But part of the problem could also be simply a lack of information.
Staffing and consulting firm Randstad NorthAmerica recently performed a survey among a thousand 11- to 17-year-oldstudents and found there is a misunderstanding of what STEM jobs are available.That, in turn, is making fewer children and young adults interested in pursuingthe field as a career later in life, according to the report.
"Over half of the students say theydon't know anyone with a job in STEM, revealing broad unfamiliarity with STEMskills and misperceptions about where these skills can be applied," saidthe company’s chief digital officer, Alan Stukalsky. “There's a lack ofeducation as to what careers are available and what jobs are out there,"he pointed out.
And finding out just what careers inS&T are available is difficult as well. There are no such listings formodeling and simulation occupations in the US Department of Labor’sOccupational Handbook and Dictionary of Occupational Titles publications suchas there are for Aerospace Engineers and Technicians and Computer HardwareEngineers, for example.
And additionally, according to the NTSA, “asubset of the STEM deficiency debate is the fact that M&S is not considereda profession, and there is no data collected directly tied to M&Sprofessional jobs, availability or vacancies. Because there are very few pure"simulationists" graduating from college, companies must grow theirown internally to fill vacancies.”
Add to the mix that S&T positions callfor skills from multiple disciplines and that very few institutions of higherlearning offer degree programs in modeling and simulation. Factor in thequestioned ability of the US educational system to provide not only thequantity but also the quality of STEM-related degree educational curricula, andone can see why a potential talent shortage has become a major concern to manyin the industry.
“The shortfall could seriously impair theindustry with the growth of M&S solutions for advanced manufacturing to includerobotics, 3D Printing and Unmanned vehicles,” Garrett stated. “These requireapplication and working knowledge of the hard sciences.”
NewSpecialties and Technologies
On the other hand, the NSTA pointed outthat that many of the skills required in the modeling and simulation sector arenot "hard core" sciences. “M&S needs specialists in such fieldsas graphics, psychology and storytelling, to name a few non-STEM areas",the organization’s response stated. “As the use of M&S spreads, the needfor specialist advisors in many areas - medical, construction, distribution,manufacture and environment are examples - will only grow.”
Along with this growth and the integrationof new technologies such as gaming and virtual reality into simulation andtraining, there will also be an increasing demand for people who have thosekinds of specialties in the industry, said National Center for Simulation (NCS)Director Lt. Gen. Tom Baptiste.
“So you are seeing a different mix ofworkforce in the simulation companies today,” Baptiste pointed out. “You seethe classic engineers, computer scientists and programmers, but now you arestarting to see this additive, additional workforce that includes specialistsin gaming or other areas that are becoming involved the development ofsimulation and training.”
Can STEM meet the challenge?
The subjects of science, technology,engineering, and math are collectively known as STEM and the US Department ofEducation states that “today, few American students pursue expertise in STEMfields” and that is the crux of the problem and the basis for national andregional initiatives to encourage the study of STEM subjects.
Some question the ability of STEMinitiatives to help increase the awareness of opportunities provided bySTEM-related careers and to encourage and assist educational institutions inproviding improved and expanded educational curricula in these areas.Meanwhile, to help meet the technological needs of the country, many arepitching in to help assure the success of the STEM effort.
The NTSA, NSME, NCS and NAWCTSD are just afew of the organizations, governmental agencies and educational institutions,along with industry, that are supporting STEM initiatives. Both NAWCTSD and theNCS are working along with other members of the Team Orlando STEM effort towork with local schools to provide more awareness of the advantages ofSTEM-based careers, and particularly those in the simulation and trainingfield.
“Once we go into the classrooms, elementaryand middle school level as well as college as a part of our EngineeringMentoring program, the students can see the job opportunities,” said RobertSeltzer, NAWCTSD Director of Research and Technology. “So when they get theirhands-on exposure and get into the material, they get excited and turned on toit. It’s when they don’t get exposed to it, or they get exposed to it bydrudgery, as opposed to getting involved in a robotics club or something, thatthey don’t have the interest. I think that it’s a big job, and it takes reallyan army to get that exposure to the level that we want to see it, to actuallyaffect the pipeline.”
“If a child doesn’t like math by the fourthgrade, you have lost him,” Baptiste added. “So when you talk about a STEMtrack, you have got to find a way to penetrate the middle schools with examplesof why math is exciting, why science is exciting, along with an entry-levelunderstanding of engineering. We are working on ways to put simulation in frontof schools, with examples such as low-cost flight simulators as an instructionaltool. And it provides students with a hands-on immersive environment that isexciting to them, but also highlights the power of simulation and shows themhow worthwhile pursuing a degree can be.”
“So I think that we have got to stayplugged into the middle schools, the high schools, the technical schools andcollege levels – to make students aware that there is an opportunity in thesimulation industry for people who follow that STEM track.” Baptisteemphasized. “It’s a continuous challenge, but one that sets the stage to createthat pipeline of talent that will feed the M&S industry.”
RecruitmentRecommendations
Additionally, Garrett provided someinsights to the S&T industry as to how to recruit more new employees intotheir fold.
“As an industry, there are some simplestrategies that might work,” Garrett said. “First, showing the higher payscales of M&S employees may help steer students into the growing field.Second, knowing that millennials thrive in multi-discipline environments, M&Scareers are appealing as they are primarily composed of multiple domaincollaboration. This leads us back to the M&S awareness factor.”
“M&S curriculum in school/trainingfacilities is still in its infancy,” Garrett continued. “Industry and workplaces throughout the US are using M&S solutions daily to improve theirbottom line through growing revenues and increasing efficiency. Awareness andproper classification of the workforce using this M&S would ultimately leadto more effective recruiting.”
Conclusion
While the discussion of a S&T talentshortage will continue, Etz feels that any such shortages will not slow downthe growth of the industry, nor have a significant impact.
“There may be a near-term localized shortages that will create some headaches for a few folks to find the right talent to support the programs,” Etz said.” But I think that in the long run you will see the economic engine that is the modeling and simulation and training system respond.”
Originally published in Issue 6, 2017 of MS&T Magazine.
