On Roblox, an online gaming platform beloved by Gen Z and Gen Alpha, the site’s 151.5 million daily active users can manage and direct pixelated air traffic through an air traffic control simulator. That’s a coincidence. What isn’t is that the federal government is recruiting this very demographic to monitor airspace in real life as it seeks to plug a decadeslong shortage in key airport staffing.
The U.S. Transportation Department and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched a campaign to enlist young people to become air traffic controllers as the aviation sector faces a shortage of the skilled employees. A YouTube ad from the Transportation Department published on Friday—set to electric music and featuring clips from games like Fortnite—announced the FAA’s hiring window for air traffic controllers opening April 17, boasting the role paid at least $155,000 after three years of work.
