2025 has seen a lean year for most STEM employers and in the defence sector we have seen only a one percent increase in jobs. The primes, bolstered by on-going large contracts, have borne greater wage costs, with the continuation of significant long term contracts, whereas austerity and cost balancing measures have been prevalent across the mid-tier, SME and Consultancy organisations.
The release of the UK’s Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) has sharpened focus on how the sector can deliver growth, resilience, and above all, skills. At 112 pages long, the strategy presents an ambitious vision for the future of defence. But as the document itself warns, ambition is nothing without delivery:
“Without a skilled workforce, programmes will be delayed, over budget, or fail entirely.”
For industry, the message is clear. Defence is fighting a talent war, and the outcome will define the UK’s sovereign capability for decades to come.
The Real Battleground: Skills
Defence currently employs around 272,000 people across the UK. Yet demand is already outstripping supply - particularly in digital, systems engineering, and advanced manufacturing. The competition for talent is no longer just with other defence organisations; it is with every sector of the economy.
This isn’t just a resourcing challenge. It is a matter of national security. Without the right people, critical programmes cannot succeed. The future of sovereignty will be won, or lost, on the skills front line.
STEM as National Infrastructure
Too often, STEM is viewed narrowly as research and design but as we move to a phase of high creativity and innovation, collaboration across many skills and disciplines including the arts is needed. The DIS makes clear that sovereign capability depends on much more too: from the welders in Barrow, to the cyber apprentices in Corsham, to the systems engineers in Farnborough.
Whether in manufacturing, software, or integration, STEM skills are the foundation of defence delivery. Like energy or transport, they are part of the UK’s critical national infrastructure and must be treated with the same urgency.
Agility Beats Attrition
The DIS highlights “acute shortages” in AI, cyber, and software engineering. Relying on traditional five-year education pipelines is no longer viable when adversaries are accelerating innovation at speed.
This is where agile training models come into play. Programmes such as LEAP show how skills can be delivered in months, not years. By combining accelerated training, employer input, and clear career pathways for career transfers, LEAP is helping organisations build capability faster, without compromising quality.
Regional Clusters Driving Resilience
The Ministry of Defence already finances an estimated 272,000 jobs of which 151,000 are directly funded MOD jobs and a further 121,000 indirect jobs are funded through support for UK industry. One in every hundred jobs are funded by the MOD and these employees are spread across every region of the UK. The DIS highlights the importance of clusters in the South West, North West and Scotland, as regional hubs for shipbuilding, aerospace, cyber, and space.
These clusters are vital to national resilience, but investment only translates to impact if regions can train and retain talent. Contracts and careers must grow together to ensure local economies thrive while sovereign capability strengthens.
Destination Defence
The government has launched the Destination Defence campaign to attract more people into the sector. While branding is welcome, marketing alone will not fill the pipeline. Careers in defence need to be visible, accessible, and compelling, with clear entry points for graduates, apprentices, and career changers.
This is where recruitment and training partners can turn ambition into action, translating high-level messaging into real opportunities for people across the UK.
Diversity as a Sovereign Advantage
The DIS also links innovation directly to workforce diversity. A homogeneous pipeline limits creativity, weakens resilience, and narrows the talent pool. By contrast, widening access through apprenticeships, mid-career reskilling, and outreach for example, creates a capability multiplier.
Diversity in defence is not just about inclusion. It is a strategic advantage that strengthens sovereignty.
From Strategy to Delivery
The Defence Industrial Strategy sets out a clear vision, but words alone will not solve the talent challenge. Programmes like LEAP demonstrate how ambition can be translated into capability. By accelerating training, widening participation, and aligning with industry needs, they provide a blueprint for the sector.
The future of UK defence depends not only on platforms and technology but most importantly on people. If the DIS is to succeed, the next step is clear: turn ambition into action, and ensure the UK has the skills to deliver.
The sector has the ambition, the ideas, and the appetite for collaboration. What’s needed now is the momentum to turn policy into practice ensuring defence has the skills it needs. This can be achieved by working with Matchtech, specialists in finding solutions that help meet demand for STEM talent today, and for the future.
