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Duffy: Effort to recruit gamers as air traffic controllers ‘wildly successful’
The agency says gamers have skills that fit controller work, and it is offering salaries above $155,000 plus bonuses to fill thousands of openings.
- On Friday, April 17, the Federal Aviation Administration opened its annual hiring window for air traffic controllers, specifically targeting gamers with salaries of at least $155,000 to address persistent workforce shortages.
- The air traffic controller workforce declined by about 6% over the last decade due to retirements and government shutdowns, leaving the agency thousands of controllers short of targeted staffing levels.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy argued that gamers possess "hard skills" like multitasking and decision-making, while the FAA offers $10,000 rewards for those willing to take positions in hard-to-fill locations.
- Within seven hours of the window opening Friday, the FAA received 6,000 applications, with officials capping total submissions at 8,000 to manage intake.
- Expert Kivanc Avrenli, professor of practice at Syracuse University Whitman School of Management, called the strategy "reasonable" but warned gaming "does not fully replicate" the job's life-or-death pressures, noting certification requires years.
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Duffy: Effort to recruit gamers as air traffic controllers ‘wildly successful’
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is targeting video gamers to serve in air traffic controller roles, an effort Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described as “wildly successful.” “This has been wildly successful, and if you think just what these gamers are doing on screens, they’re talking and there’s a lot of things going on,” Duffy said…
·Washington, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources19
Leaning Left4Leaning Right6Center8Last UpdatedBias Distribution45% Center
Bias Distribution
- 45% of the sources are Center
45% Center
L 22%
C 45%
R 33%
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