The greatest challenge facing businesses in the ground support market for the second year in a row is finding and retaining staff. A look at the latest trends across the GSE and ground handling markets according to Ground Support Worldwide’s annual survey can be found in the 2024 State of the Industry.
Over the past year, the size of company staffs remained mostly steady. Only 41 percent of respondents reported an increase in staff size – compared to 50 percent a year ago. Conversely, 17 percent of those surveyed said their staff decreased – compared to 22 percent polled in 2023
“The operators I’m working with, they are seeing some stabilization of their workforce. People are coming back,” says Louis Sorrentino, CEO and managing director at AvMaSSi. “I’m optimistic that the resource challenges will diminish.”
Steady employment figures may indicate an improvement in employee turnover rates. However, many companies across the ground support market still face turnover challenges. To help combat this, Sorrentino says pre-vetting potential employees is key, and scaling training programs to introduce people to ground handling can help.
“Once you see that they’re committed and can work in these environments, then transition them to full-time and additional training,” Sorrentino says.
