Companies and Communities Come Together to Help STEM Careers Take Off

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a third of U.S. companies report job openings and a struggle to find skilled workers for technical positions. For example, overall employment of airline and commercial pilots is projected to grow 4 percent from 2016 to 2026, and employment of airline pilots, co-pilots, and flight engineers is projected to grow 3 percent over the same period, according to the FAA's Aeronautical Center. Boeing estimates the global aviation industry will need 790,000 new pilots, plus more than 1.6 million new maintenance technicians and cabin crew members, to meet demand over the next 20 years.  Even as more tech-focused sectors face potential talent shortages, research continues to show that we are not doing enough to prepare young people for the technology-driven careers in highest demand. Increasingly, companies are stepping in to support science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education—bolstering their future talent pipelines while helping to strengthen their communities. In this series sponsored by JetBlue, we’ll take a closer look at how the private sector can lend a hand to learners through STEM and educational partnerships.