EADS : World leader in aeronautics, space and defence, industry and related services

A world leader in the aeronautics, space and defence industry and related services, EADS boasted a turnover of €43.3 billion in 2008 and employs around 118,000 people.

EADS Group comprises several companies: the world leader in commercial airplanes, Airbus; Airbus Military, manufacturers of tanker airplanes and military transport aircraft; Eurocopter, the world's largest helicopter manufacturer; and EADS Astrium, the top European player in space programmes such as Ariane and Galileo. The Defence & Security Division of EADS provides complete system solutions and is the major partner in the Eurofighter consortium.

The Group is a partial stakeholder in the MBDA joint venture, the world leader in missile systems.

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Interview: Performance and passion: a typical EADS career

This year, EADS, the European technology group, has joined the ranks of CDMGE Academic Challenge partners. What motivated it to do so, given that over the next five years it is going to recruit thousands of engineers? Hervé Borensztejn, vice president in charge of human resource development, answers that question.

Performance and passion: a typical EADS career

Most of EADS' 118,000 employees are engineers. Its activities range from civil aviation with Airbus, helicopter activities with Eurocopter, and space activities with Astrium and Ariane, to defence and national security systems. It goes without saying that brain power is its added value. "EADS operates in France, Germany, Great Britain and Spain, but also in the Netherlands, Romania and Poland. It is also expanding in the United States, Brazil, Australia, India and China. Some 4,000 employees work abroad. Geographic, career and functional mobility are therefore key to our HR management. Our HR management aims to develop our workers and optimise their skills in relation to our needs."

Head in the clouds...even in the stars

In line with its recruitment strategy, EADS plans on hiring two to five thousand engineers over the next five years. "EADS has several projects under development. We are mainly hiring for our research departments. They are good entry point since employees can hone their skills before progressing to product development to work on such names as the A350, A400M, A380 or the Tiger". All EADS fields are enthralling, as is attested to by our Group's low employee turnover. It is not rare to see employees who have worked here for 35 years. "Usually, they are passionate about their work. The Group offers them a rich career, whether in general or specialised fields. They quickly make their way up the ladder of responsibility and, in all cases, it is an exercise in multiculturalism."

Why did EADS decide to join the Challenge?

We had excellent feedback on the atmosphere and participation at the first Challenge. It's an admirable event where our employees can share their enthusiasm for their work and for the Group. EADS is well known to engineering students, so the challenge is to communicate in another area, in an informal, relaxed way.

So, EADS is still attentive to creating ties with students?

EADS offers 5,000 internships and around international corporate volunteering experiences a year. It also welcomes doctoral students in association with the CIFRE industrial research body. The EADS Junior programme identifies 50 accomplished interns per year, and keeps in touch with them throughout their studies to maintain ties for future possible employment. Until end-February, students may also apply to our "Progress" programme which recruits 100 promising young talents a year into a two-year programme featuring experiences in several countries and departments. This highly selective programme offers accelerated career possibilities to the highest-achieving young talents.

The Challenge is now Europe-wide. Is that an advantage for EADS?

EADS is a Europe-wide Group and hires the best no matter where they are. Europe itself is a value for our Group since, through our activities, we feel that we contribute every day to the construction of Europe. The European dimension of the Challenge is also in line with another one of our values: diversity. EADS promotes diversity in several areas: gender, age, social and ethnic background, disability, and academic background.

www.eads.com



To learn more about EADS branches, click here