Ukrainian defense industry today is understaffed with specialists, and the situation will worsen as years go by if nothing is done to prevent it, an opinion shared with Defense Express by Artem Viunnyk, director of the Athlon Avia aerial drone-making R&D company.
"The issue of specialists [shortage] is very serious and very complex. We are witnessing, maybe, a catastrophic situation in the domain because many people are fighting, many have left abroad, while today's engineering potential, represented by students of higher education institutions, is being lost. Online learning is absolutely ineffective, and we should pay attention to that, too," the expert stated during the interview.
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The problem must be addressed today, he said, otherwise Ukrainian industry will face a situation where the employees simply cannot find qualified and motivated staff:
We can buy everything, we can build premises, even construct them underground, provide the equipment and all. However, if there won't be people, who are creative and educated, who understand how everything works and what they need to do; people who are ready to be here and work at our enterprises… Unfortunately, it will be just another profanity about defense industry progress," Artem Viunnyk says, recalling the talk from our previous article.
The Athlon Avia director says reinforcement of Ukrainian defense industry should cover all aspects: long-term planning, security for industrial premises, and global support of enterprises manifested on the level of state policy regarding engineering education.
"This is very important, catastrophically important for our future," Viunnyk warns, "If nothing changes, and all remains as it is today, I suspect, we'll face a very unpleasant situation in 3 to 5 years."
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