Global defense groups are hiring at the fastest pace in decades with record orders

Global defense companies are hiring at the fastest pace since the end of the Cold War as the industry struggles to deliver orders that are approaching record highs.

A Financial Times survey of the hiring plans of 20 large and mid-sized US and European defense and aerospace companies showed they are looking to hire tens of thousands of people this year.

Three of the largest U.S. contractors — Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics — have nearly 6,000 open jobs they need to fill, while the 10 companies surveyed are looking to add a total of nearly 37,000 positions, or nearly 10 percent of their total. workforce.

“Since the end of the Cold War, this is the most intensive period for the defense sector, with the highest increase in the volume of orders in a relatively short period of time,” said Jan Pie, Secretary General of ASD, European Aerospace and Defence. trade association.

Since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine and amid widespread geopolitical tensions, governments around the world have increased military spending. A surge in orders after decades of low volumes, combined with competition for digital skills from technology groups and a job market still struggling with Covid-era staff shortages, are some of the factors driving recruitment across the industry.

The companies said they were looking to fill positions across the board, from apprentices to late-career executives. Engineers, software developers and cyber security analysts, as well as welders and mechanics are in demand.

Antonio Liotti, chief officer of Italian defense champion Leonardo, said there was an “intense search for new staff, even more intense than during previous conflicts such as Iraq or Afghanistan”.

The supplier, which is part of a three-nation program with the UK’s BAE Systems and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to build the new fighter jet, aims to hire 6,000 new staff, including replacements, by the end of 2024. for 8,000 to 10,000 new positions between 2025 and 2028, mainly industrial and software engineers.

The search for new employees, Liotti added, was driven not only by the conflict, but also by greater competition from neighboring industries such as “high-tech companies and consultancies”. Other factors also played a role, including people seeking greater work-life balance and “quiet weaning”.

Ammunition companies, notably Rheinmetall and Nammo, which have had to ramp up production significantly to replenish government stocks, are among those with the most aggressive hiring plans.

Nammo said he had “never experienced a situation like this”. The company, which is partly owned by the governments of Norway and Finland, has increased its workforce by 15 percent from 2,700 in 2021 to 3,100 in 2023. It currently employs around 3,250 people and says that “doubling the size of the company [by the end of] 2030 seems reasonable”.

Germany’s Rheinmetall said on Friday it is looking to lay off hundreds of workers at leading auto parts maker Continental, which is suffering from anemic demand in the auto sector.

France’s Thales, which makes the Starstreak cruise missile donated to Ukraine from Western government supplies, said it had recruited 9,000 people to its defense operations over the past three years – 11 percent of its current workforce of 81,000.

BAE increased recruitment significantly last year, but has already stepped up recruitment for long-term programs such as the Global Combat Air Program and the Royal Navy’s Type 26 frigates.

In the UK, “we’ve doubled our early career intake over the last five years and are taking on around 2,700 apprentices and graduates this year, as well as thousands of other experienced professionals”, said Tania Gandamihardja, the company’s head of human resources.

European missile champion MBDA, owned by BAE, Airbus and Leonardo, which makes the Storm Shadow and Scalp air-launched missiles used with devastating effect in Ukraine, plans to hire more than 2,600 people this year – 17 percent of its current workforce. 15,000.

Dassault Aviation, which makes the Rafale fighter jets, has not seen any direct increase in orders from Ukraine, but is constantly hiring due to the length of production cycles in the sector.

Nuclear defense manufacturers, particularly those involved in the trilateral Aukus submarine program between the UK, US and Australia, are among those that have seen the highest rise in skills shortages.

Several companies, including Rolls-Royce and Babcock International, have recently opened their own nuclear skills academies, while Thales UK, which provides sonar for all Royal Navy submarines, has launched a sonar academy.

The UK government has separately launched a nuclear skills taskforce to train the tens of thousands of workers needed in the country’s civilian nuclear and military programmes.

The recent recruitment and training drive is “unprecedented”, said Beccy Pleasant of the Nuclear Skills Delivery Group, which predicts that more than 30,000 additional roles will be needed in the nuclear defense sector by 2030.

Companies have also strengthened collaboration with universities and other organizations to build a future labor pool.

Cranfield University, which has close links with the sector, is offering new courses, particularly in digital forensics, to help people learn to attribute cyber attacks, among other things.

“It’s well known that you can’t just assume academia is going to throw out the people you want to recruit.” . . companies are now moving up the supply chain of people,” said Heather Goldstraw, Cranfield’s defense director.

A particular challenge for the industry is that some roles require additional security clearances. RTX, which owns missile and sensor maker Raytheon, said earlier this year that it “continues to face challenges in hiring highly skilled personnel including engineers, skilled labor and security clearance holders.”

Others, such as Germany’s Renk, said they may have to look abroad. CEO Susanne Wiegand said: “We also need more qualified good people from abroad because in Germany we cannot, all together as a defense industry, find enough people for these jobs.