Aerospace: Local skills, an essential link in the shift upmarket

How can Moroccan talent be turned into the driving force behind the national aerospace industry’s shift upmarket? Beyond recruitment needs, the question involves training, the evolution of professions, and the capacity of engineers to participate in system design and technological mastery. The Talent Day of the Marrakech Airshow 2026 launched a reflection on the link between human capital and industrial ambition: the line that separates the capacity to produce from the mastery of expertise. The advancements of the Moroccan aerospace industry should also be measured by the activities developed within the territory, the technologies mastered, and the expertise acquired. Organized as part of the Marrakech Airshow 2026, the Talent Day highlighted a central question for “Made in Morocco”: how to turn local manufacturing into a lever for technological mastery? For Taoufiq Moucharraf, Secretary General of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and President of the Space, Aerospace, and Defense Exhibitions Association (ASSAD), the challenge goes beyond simply meeting recruiters’ immediate needs. It is about anticipating corporate requirements, transferring expertise, and preparing new generations for responsibilities that go beyond mere execution. The future of “Made in Morocco” also depends on this ability to train professionals capable of designing, developing, and evolving the technologies produced in Morocco, he insisted.

Anticipating needs rather than chasing recruitments

The Moroccan aerospace sector is now entering a stage where the growth of activities demands increased attention to the skills supporting it. Hamid Benbrahim El Andaloussi, Chairman of the Midparc Industrial Acceleration Zone and Honorary President of the Moroccan Aerospace Industries Association (GIMAS), recalled its three major challenges: increasing production capacities to meet growing demand, anticipating the decarbonization of air transport, and having the necessary skills to support these transformations.

These three challenges place human resources at the heart of one of Morocco’s industrial ambitions. Indeed, the sector must be able to rely on qualified profiles capable of meeting the precision and quality standards specific to the industry. As for the environmental transition, it further expands the scope of expertise to be acquired and technologies to be mastered. As industrial imperatives diversify, expected qualifications evolve accordingly.

Consequently, human resources management cannot be limited to filling vacant positions as needs arise. It implies anticipating emerging professions, identifying skills to be strengthened, and preparing the career paths that will allow them to develop. The challenge is therefore not to let skill requirements lag behind growth, but to prepare them proactively so that companies have the necessary qualifications at different stages of their development.

This anticipation also involves the complementarity of profiles and the transfer of expertise. A sector expanding its activities needs diversified skills, but also the ability to advance them, connect them with one another, and renew knowledge at the pace of technical developments. It is within this continuity, between the immediate needs of the industry and the preparation of future skills, that a share of its capacity to sustainably support its growth is determined.

Training today for the jobs of tomorrow

Mohammed Ben Al Allam, Director of Human Resources and HSE Morocco at Safran, emphasized the imperative of preparing resources capable of meeting the challenges of today and tomorrow. The needs of aerospace now extend, he said, to fields such as energy, materials, digital technology, and artificial intelligence, while the environmental transition opens up new perspectives for younger generations. “The aviation of 2050 is being built today,” Mr. Ben Al Allam noted, while emphasizing the importance of anticipation in talent preparation. The skills developed today will partly determine the ability of tomorrow’s teams to design, master, and advance industry technologies.

Beyond employment: a seat at the design table

Shifting up the industrial value chain also depends on the place granted to local skills, from product design to manufacturing. “A drone is a product, but a factory is a capability,” emphasized Natasha Villaceran, Global Head of Talent at Harmattan AI. The ambition is therefore to ensure that Morocco is not just the place where these systems are manufactured, but also where they are designed and developed by local teams. In this regard, she recalled that the industrial project led by the group combines a factory, a research and development center, and partnerships with universities.

Amir Benmahjoub, General Manager Morocco, specified for his part that to build its teams, the company relies notably on Moroccan universities, while remaining open to the Moroccan diaspora and international profiles ready to settle in the Kingdom. For him, the challenge is to turn this diversity of skills into a collective strength. When local engineers take part in technical decisions from the outset, their contribution is no longer limited to execution or assembly: it participates in the design and evolution of systems. “Made in Morocco” then gains depth by pairing local manufacturing with the expertise required to master its technical foundations.

Career paths matching the ambitions

The diversity of sought-after skills is also apparent in Royal Air Maroc’s outlook. The program-contract signed in 2023 with the State plans to increase the national carrier’s fleet from 50 to 200 aircraft by 2037. Such an ambition impacts a wide range of professions: flight crews, ground staff, cross-functional roles, and specializations specific to air transport. For El Mehdi Skalli, Recruitment Manager at Royal Air Maroc, human capital is indispensable to the success of this program. “We will only succeed in our development plan through human capital,” he stressed. The airline intends, in particular, to attract young Moroccan graduates, including those from the diaspora who wish to return to work in Morocco.

Beyond the technical qualifications specific to certain positions, Mr. Skalli also emphasized soft skills, emotional intelligence, reliability, and commitment. These qualities serve as a reminder that collective performance does not depend solely on professional mastery. It also relies on the ability to work with others, take responsibility, and grow within an organization. The example of Royal Air Maroc thus broadens the reflection beyond engineering profiles and highly technical jobs. Aerospace relies on a plurality of functions whose complementarity conditions corporate operations. For human resources, the challenge consists in making these career paths clear, attracting diverse profiles, and allowing skills to develop in line with the sector’s needs.

This is where the Marrakech Airshow’s Talent Day takes on its full meaning: bringing companies and younger generations together is not enough on its own. It is also necessary to make professions visible, explicitly outline the sought-after qualifications, and give future professionals an idea of the responsibilities they will be able to access.