Helping you keep pace in industries moving at the speed of light

“He’s making how much?!?” 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that from exasperated hiring managers at mid-market aerospace and defense companies.

The talent wars are real, and compensation is the biggest battle.

The industry is booming, driving massive demand for engineering and tech talent. But for many growing A&D firms, attracting and keeping that talent is extremely challenging due to compensation competitiveness.

In our recent Elray Search survey, 42% of respondents – mid-market A&D hiring managers – cited compensation as their #1 obstacle for new hires. These smaller companies can’t compete with the eye-watering pay, stock awards, and lavish benefits the primes dangle. 

It makes it nearly impossible to pull top talent from the industry giants. The majors are bidding them up aggressively, outbidding mid-market firms at every turn. Salaries for in-demand roles have skyrocketed as larger companies keep ratcheting up pay.

But many mid-sized businesses can’t match these rapidly accelerating compensation levels. So they helplessly watch elite tech stars get poached and constantly strike out landing coveted candidates.

As they pursue growth, R&D, new capabilities and big wins, creatively solving this compensation conundrum through non-monetary rewards, career development and culture has become vital.

The truth? For mid-market A&D hiring managers, the talent war will be won or lost on the compensation battlefield.