COLORADO SPRINGS (Sputnik) - The US space industry lacks skilled technical workers, US Vice President Kamala Harris said during a video address to participants of the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.
"Today our space industry is facing a shortage of skilled technical workers," Harris said during the opening ceremony on Monday. "Thousands of good-paying technical jobs, many of which do not require a four-year degree, are waiting to be filled."
Harris recalled initiating three regional pilot programs to train more skilled technical workers one year ago.
The Space Symposium brings together thousands of the world's space, military, civil, and government research industry leaders annually. This year's event comes on the heels of a statement issued by the US-based Space Foundation honoring the legacy of Russian-born Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Gagarin was the first person to travel into space, flying aboard the Vostok spacecraft.
The Soviet Union also achieved the distinction of sending the first woman into space, the Russian Valentina Tereshkova, and the first person of African descent, the Afro-Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez.
Harris' comments come amidst concern over deindustrialization after decades of neoliberal economic policy in the United States. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently praised China's investments in industrial training, noting, "China put an enormous focus on manufacturing, in what you and I would call vocational kind of skills." Shrewd planning has allowed the Asian power to dominate in the manufacturing of everything from solar panels to infrastructure to electric vehicles.