Defence is one of the busiest employers in the country, and demand keeps climbing. 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 MOD supported employment estimates for 2023/24. That builds on the year before, when the total number of MOD-supported UK jobs reached 239,000 in 2022/23, an increase of 6% on the previous financial year the 2022/23 estimates.
Recruitment inside the sector is growing too. The defence sector continued to be an attractive employer, with surveyed recruitment growing by 17.8% in 2022 a GOV.UK release on the sector's economic contribution. Fresh investment is adding to the pressure: 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 a GOV.UK announcement on the defence dividend.
So the picture is clear. More money, more jobs and a sector that is recruiting harder every year. The question is who those jobs are for, and that is where through-life support changes things.
Through-life support means a platform, a ship, an aircraft or a radar system, is bought with decades of maintenance, upgrades and spares built into the contract. That shifts the centre of gravity away from one-off design work and towards sustainment: the people who keep kit safe, available and current year after year.
The roles that matter most here are deeply technical, and they are hard to fill. In engineering, 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Sustainability skills sit at the heart of through-life support, so that shortage lands directly on the roles defence firms now need most.
Retention is the other half of the challenge. 79% of UK technical professionals plan to change employers in 2026 recruitment firm Rise Technical's 2025/26 Insights Report, surveying over 500 employers and 1000 candidates. When contracts run for 20 or 30 years, losing the engineers who hold that system knowledge is costly, so hiring and keeping the right people becomes a long-term commitment, not a one-off task.
There is one more factor that shapes who you can hire. For the engineering profession, the vast majority of new hires come from the resident labour force, indicating low reliance on international recruitment a GOV.UK review of professionals in IT and engineering. In defence, where security clearance already narrows the field, that means you are competing for a mostly domestic pool of experienced engineers.
Start by hiring for the full life of the contract, not just the first phase. Look for people who can maintain, diagnose and upgrade systems over time, and value depth of system knowledge as much as headline design credentials. The sustainability and specialist skills employers already find hardest to recruit are the ones you will lean on for years the IET's engineering skills research.
Second, plan for movement. With 79% of UK technical professionals planning to change employers in 2026, build a steady pipeline rather than a one-off search Rise Technical's Insights Report. Map the roles each contract will need, keep warm relationships with cleared engineers, and treat succession as part of the delivery plan.
Finally, speed matters. In a market this tight, a slow process loses good people to someone faster, so tighten every step from first contact to offer.
We built Reed.ai to help defence firms find the right people for long-life contracts without the process dragging on. We search 15 million candidates, surface a ranked shortlist and manage recruitment end to end, so you can focus on the roles that keep systems running for decades. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. If through-life support is reshaping who you need to hire, start a search with us today.
