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Sikorsky Australia has welcomed five new apprentices into the company’s apprenticeship program to build Australia’s defence and aviation industrial workforce.
This latest round of apprentices brings Sikorsky’s 2024 intake to 16 apprentices, representing nearly 20 per cent of the company’s technical workforce with an annual investment of over $1 million.
The new apprentices in the program will complete a four-year aircraft maintenance engineer apprenticeship where they will learn the skills of the trade required to sustain the Royal Australian Navy’s most advanced naval helicopter, the MH-60R Seahawk, at Sikorsky Australia’s maintenance and logistics support facility in Nowra.
Sikorsky Australia’s general manager, Cliff Kyle, said, “We are thrilled to onboard our new apprentices who will work side by side with our skilled technical workforce.”
Currently, Sikorsky Australia’s apprenticeship cohort includes 16 apprentices at various stages in the apprenticeship program. To date, all of the apprentices who have completed their apprenticeships have gone on to take up full-time roles in the company. Since 2018, this has resulted in eight engineers transitioning to full-time roles.
“We will step the apprentices through an intensive aviation program teaching them the core skills to inspect, service, repair, test, and troubleshoot complex systems and components onboard the Seahawks and aid them to become nationally qualified aircraft maintenance engineers,” Kyle added.
Over the next five years, Sikorsky Australia will continue to grow its skilled technical workforce in the region from 200 to over 300 personnel, supporting the maintenance and logistics aspects of its operations.
Kyle added, “We are honoured to be building a workforce that supports the Royal Australian Navy’s mission at sea and our highly skilled team are proud to be a part of assuring the highest level of operational readiness for the Navy’s Seahawk fleet.”
