North American aviation companies get labor relief from foreign workers, at a cost

Aerospace supplier CEO Hugue Meloche spends more than C$10,000 for each skilled foreign worker he brings to his company’s Montreal-area factories, but paying those costs is preferable to leaving key positions unfilled while orders boom. As clients like engine maker General Electric boosted production in 2022, the head of Meloche Group hired 20% of its workforce of 500 from countries like Mexico, Tunisia and Brazil to make up for staffing shortfalls. This added at least C$1m ($736,377.03) in costs at a company generating around C$100m in annual revenue. Added costs like those are especially hitting smaller suppliers with limited resources, industry officials said. The suppliers must then cut costs elsewhere or pass on those extra charges to their customers while struggling to meet demands for competitive pricing and higher production from planemakers Airbus and Boeing. The tight manufacturing labor market, following a wave of retirements during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, has led North American aircraft repair shops and suppliers, especially in Canada, to recruit a small but growing number of workers from abroad. This fills critical positions but puts a fresh burden on small suppliers whose human resources staff normally do not help new arrivals find homes and cars. These challenges are not going away as airline and aerospace executives remain cautious on supply chains and see problems persisting until 2025. Meloche’s company in the Canadian province of Quebec offers loans to recruits, as well as short-term housing. It has four employees dedicated to helping newcomers with everything from finding a new home to buying a car. “We are the help desk,” Meloche said in an interview. “We have huge needs. For us, immigration is not a choice.” Story has more.<br/>