The Army managed to recruit just 63% of its target last year, whilst the RAF and Navy also struggled. (Image: Getty)
The armed forces must change how they communicate with potential recruits to combat declining troop numbers and address the lack of appeal amongst Gen-Z, according to the
His comments come from research published at the end of 2024, which shows that joining the military is the third most unappealing career prospect for behind only and .
The research suggests that young people prefer jobs such as preparing coffees in and serving pasties in to careers in the armed forces.
, the Shadow Defence Minister, believes that those who serve are still highly respected by the majority of the country, but appealing to top potential applicants when the country is not actively engaged in war is difficult.
He told Express.co.uk: “The public still venerates the armed forces, but inevitably, the further we get from the memory of conflict, the harder recruitment becomes.”
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The Shadow Defence Secretary called on the Military to define their role and communicate it better. (Image: Getty)
“The thing we have to do is to sell the mission; what role do the armed forces play, and what can they offer people as a career choice?”
Last month a session highlighted the inability to meet recruitment targets, a task outsourced to recruitment specialists Capita who have consistently failed to meet military recruitment targets since winning the contract in 2012.
Last year, the firm recruited just 63% into the of its target of 10,450 people, with similarly pitiful numbers also seen in and recruitment.
is in the process of replacing the flailing recruitment firm, with MOD Permanent Secretary David Williams confirming that plans are in progress to award the contract to a new supplier in the spring.
Calvin Bailey MP a former pilot and a member of the Defence Select Committee believes that whoever is given the contract to solve recruitment issues, it is unlikely to match the ability of military run careers offices in demonstrating the offering of the armed forces.
He told Express.co.uk: “We need to communicate what defence and security means to people, but that is difficult outside of conflict. We have to explain it better to people so that they understand how peace is achieved.
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Calvin Bailey has called on the military to ‘explain how peace is achieved’ to Gen-Z. (Image: Getty)
“We have to explain what a military career means, what is the lived experience. That is nigh-on impossible for a civilian organisation to do.
“As an RAF officer, I would often ask young airmen and women if they understood the impact of the job they did. Some struggled to understand the significance of their role maintaining £1.5 million missiles that have a key role in national security.
“That is the message that needs to be communicated in recruitment.”
is a former captain in the who now coaches aspiring officers
As he prepares men and women in their early twenties for the selection board and life at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he is well placed to comment on the motivations of Gen-Z looking to join the Army and the hurdles they must overcome.
He notes: “Young people I see who aspire to join do so for many of the same reasons people of my generation did. They want to lead, they want to serve and they want the life and challenge that time in the military brings.
“But you also see the issues plaguing those joining that I experienced. The delays, the bureaucracy, it still takes so long and I imagine that that could end up putting some people off.”
“This is compounded by the identity crisis the military has with the younger generation. I grew up with combat operations of Afghanistan and Iraq on the news every night and although I knew the dangers involved, the temperament required to thrive in those conditions and the chance of being involved in those operations was hugely appealing. Those joining now don’t have that background and so the military feels like it needs to appeal to them in a different way.”
“The UK military faces a significant recruitment challenge in my view. While they focus on selling the lifestyle and benefits, they seem to have lost sight of what truly motivates young people. It feels like there’s an identity crisis in the recruitment drive. In my opinion, they need to shift their focus to highlighting the purpose, the opportunity to serve your country, and the chance to develop valuable skills and make a real difference. Selling travel and education might attract some, but it won’t inspire the next generation of leaders.”
In recent years, strict rules regarding medical eligibility have been relaxed to allow those with conditions such as acne, hay fever or childhood asthma to progress beyond the medical stage of the application process.
Last year, vowed to speed up the Army’s recruitment process, vowing to set “new targets for the forces to reject or make a conditional offer within 10 days and to give people a training start date within 30 days,” in an attempt to prevent applicants from becoming disillusioned and abandoning the process.