In the coming decades, the manufacturing industry will help determine whether the EU flounders on the global stage or rebuilds its competitiveness, one investment at a time. According to a 2024 European Commission report, the sector is responsible for 20% of total employment and 80% of European exports. Looking ahead, ‘scaling these advanced manufacturing technologies represents an opportunity for the EU to become increasingly competitive internationally, while building a stronger and more resilient industrial base.’

For the aerospace industry, this vision requires three key investments: innovative facilities, a well-prepared talent pipeline and skills training for current workers. However, that’s easier said than done; for essential roles such as engineers and technicians, vacancies are as high as 20%. To reverse statistics like these and improve Europe’s manufacturing and employment environment, GE Aerospace is investing in each objective.

Innovative facilities

After investing €78 million in European manufacturing in 2025 and €40 million in European maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and component repair facilities in 2024, the company recently announced an investment of more than €110 million to improve manufacturing sites in the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Romania and the UK. These upgrades include state-of-the-art engine test cells, advanced machining equipment, additive manufacturing expansion and infrastructure improvements to increase production capacity, accelerate innovation and strengthen delivery to customers.

One of the funding’s most important investments is the hiring more than 1,000 new workers across Europe. These are the professionals who build, maintain, repair and improve the equipment that keeps the industry flying high.

Talent pipeline

There are multiple pathways into the aerospace industry, and some start immediately after or even during formal education. GE Aerospace’s Avio Aero business in Italy partners with institutions such as ITS Academy in Torino to blend on-the-job training with academic study, while GE Aerospace Foundation’s Next Engineers programme in Warsaw will bring hands-on experience to 4,000 secondary school students. Wrocław, also in Poland, has been selected as one of the first global locations for the Foundation’s workforce skills initiative, Lifting Futures.

Similarly, the company’s award-nominated apprenticeship programme with Ayrshire College in Scotland has paired more than 350 apprentices with experienced technicians to learn about maintaining advanced engines. One of these apprentices, Louise Collins, split her time between studying physics, materials, production management and other relevant subjects at the college and learning how to disassemble, clean, inspect, repair, reassemble and test engines at the GE Aerospace Caledonian site in Prestwick. She was later selected as the company’s Apprentice of the Year in 2024 and is now a full-fledged aircraft engine mechanic at the site.

Skills training

GE Aerospace recruits not only students but those already in the workforce, who bring different but no less valuable skills. That’s how Pawel Wika transitioned from a corporate career to became an aircraft engine technician at the company’s XEOS facility in Poland. Through continuous learning, on-the-job development and transition programmes like XEOS Academy, Wika and others starting new aerospace and defence careers at any age can earn wages that are 44% higher than in other industries. These workers demonstrate that, as Wika remarked:

‘Change is the essence of growth. It’s never too late to learn something new and take on a challenge.’