I've been an aerospace engineer for two years now since I graduated from college. Maybe I'm not just getting enough work to do because my boss tends to give the "harder" tasks to more "experienced" co-workers even though I know I'm qualified to do it.

I work for a medium sized defense contractor and our company has just went through a lot of downsizing, so me being worried about a layoff is not an issue (at least for the next 10 years or so).

On some days, I am very busy at my desk freaking out about deadlines... on others (like this one), I find myself surfing the net and posting question on yahoo answers all the time.

My question is... is it just me and my situation?? or is it like this for everyone else in this industry?

Can anyone shed some light?

Thanks in advance!
Also I am finding out that the need for people in the aerospace/defense industry to get US security clearances is decreasing. Is this probably due to budget?

All the older employees are all secret or top-secret cleared and all the younger ones fresh out of college aren't. Weird. Seems like the company is trying to save some money or something.

Sounds like your upper management isn't doing a very good job at winning new business. I think there's no shortage of work, esp in the classified stuff. If you can get on one of those programs and get a clearance, it will only help you in the future - most companies that do that kind of work are ALWAYS looking for people with the clearances.

Have you tried any job searches on web sites - to see if your company's competitors are hiring people just like you? If they are, it confirms that your management is falling down on the job. If not, maybe there just isn't as much work in the industry.

There have been a few high-profile $@#-ups on big defense satellite programs lately (late, over budget, no chance of meeting technical requirements), so maybe the government is trying to clean house a bit. If you happen to work for one of the companies who are in the dog house, things might appear unnaturally slow.

Do you subscribe to Space News, and/or Aviation Week and Space Technology? Good sources for what's going on in the biz.

As for "is it like this for everyone else in this industry?" Simply, no. Every staff meeting I sit in, we are talking about "how are we going to get some new blood" for the programs - people with talent and ambition who can learn and grow in the programs we have now, and staff up the jobs we expect to win.