Serco awarded £1.5bn military recruitment contract as Gen-Z say they would not defend UK

has been awarded a £1.5 billion contract to deliver military recruitment as the struggle to appeal to

The contract will see the company oversee recruitment for all three services from 2027 despite criticism that the  12 years of outsourcing its recruitment to a civilian company have been an “unmitigated disaster.”

The company will take on responsibility for recruiting the next generation of service personnel in a climate where just 11% of Gen-Z say they would fight for Britain, according to The Times.

Capita has been responsible for recruitment for 12 years but has only met its annual target twice. Last year, its performance was so poor that it was labelled a “national security risk”, , leaving army numbers dwindling.

Backbench Conservative MP (Devizes) told the Commons: “The Public Accounts Committee, I understand, heard that for every five people recruited to the armed services, eight are leaving.

“That is a national security crisis, it is not just a problem for recruitment, it is an absolutely profound security risk.”

The Times survey shows that a shocking 41% of 18 to 27-year-olds believe that there are “no circumstances at all in which they would take up arms for their country.”

Another survey found that a career in the prospect for youngsters, behind only McDonalds and Burger King.

The armed forces have struggled to attract talent in recent years, with all three services falling short of their recruitment targets every year since 2019.

Recruitment challenges are exasperated by the difficulty of retaining service personnel, with more people leaving than joining each year. In 2024, 10,680 people joined the regular armed forces, while 16,140 left service.

Last year, former Minister for the Armed Forces told GB News: “In some bits of the Army, for every person that joins, three are now leaving. And in some specialist areas, it’s even worse than that.

“The army is bleeding out, and since they took over recruiting in 2012, it has been an unmitigated disaster.”

But the decision to put a civilian company in charge of combating declining recruitment has been described as “woeful” by serving soldiers who believe those in uniform are best placed to dispel myths about life in the services.

A MP with previous military service told the Express.co.uk: “I don’t believe that civilian companies can ever have the impact that in-house recruitment can.

“People need to be able to see what they want to be. The beauty of an old-fashioned recruitment office is that you have somebody in there that comes from the same area as you, might have the same background and can give you the ground’s truth about life in the military. Civilians just cannot replicate it in my opinion.”

Shadow Defence Secretary challenged the Labour government to back up the recruitment contract with sufficient defence spending to meet the country’s challenges.

He said: “This is an incredibly important contract award, and we hope it succeeds, but to do so will require the Government to deliver on its promise to increase defence spending by 2.5%.

“This award must now see significant service improvement because the threats we face not only require the extra spending Labour are still stalling on but also the people to deliver on the front line.”

Anthony Kirby, Serco’s UK & Europe Chief Executive, says his company will consider a “blended approach” that will include service personnel in the recruitment process.

He said: “The new recruitment service, including management of all armed forces Career Offices across the UK, will operate with a blended workforce that incorporates military service personnel.  

“It is underpinned by best-in-class integrated technology, designed to improve the overall candidate experience at the same time as modernising and speeding up the recruitment process.”