Demand is strong and growing. More than 1,700 new jobs are being created across the UK defence sector following at least £1.4 billion in foreign direct investment committed since July 2024, according to a 2025 GOV.UK announcement on the defence dividend. That investment shows confidence in UK capability, and it turns into real vacancies on real sites.
Public spending reinforces the trend. MOD expenditure with industry supported a total of 272,000 direct jobs in 2023/24, an increase of 11% compared to the previous financial year, as reported in the MOD supported employment estimates for 2023/24. That builds on earlier growth, with MOD-supported UK jobs reaching 239,000 in 2022/23, an increase of 6% on the previous year, per the 2022/23 estimates.
The sector is also pulling people in. The defence sector continued to be an attractive employer, with surveyed recruitment growing by 17.8% in 2022, according to a 2024 GOV.UK release on the sector's economic contribution. Large early-careers intakes like Babcock's sit on top of this momentum, not apart from it.
Engineering and technical skills sit at the centre of defence hiring, and they're hard to find. Some 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list, according to the Institution of Engineering and Technology in 2025. Defence companies compete for the same scarce engineers as every other high-tech sector.
That's why early-careers routes matter so much. Apprenticeships are moving from the margins to the mainstream: apprenticeships have risen from 3% of AI hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025, according to the GOV.UK AI Labour Market Survey 2025. Growing your own talent through graduate schemes and apprenticeships is becoming a core answer to the skills gap, not a nice-to-have.
Start with the pipeline, not the single vacancy. With 76% of engineering employers struggling to recruit for key roles, per the IET in 2025, a steady flow of graduates and apprentices protects you against sudden gaps. Plan intakes a year or two ahead, and map the skills you'll need before the contracts land.
Speed and reach decide the outcome. The people you want are often already employed, so a slow process loses them. The employers who win are the ones who surface the right person fast and keep candidates warm through every step.
We search 15 million candidates to find people with the skills your roles demand, and we rank a shortlist in under 30 seconds so you can act while the best people are still available. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. If you're hiring engineers, graduates or apprentices in defence-and-security, let Reed.ai build your shortlist today.
