The Ministry of Defence has revealed stark challenges in recruitment and retention within the Armed Forces, with Defence Secretary John Healey acknowledging the scale of the problem during a session with the Defence Committee.
Healey confirmed that for the past year, the Armed Forces have been losing 300 more full-time personnel each month than they have been recruiting.
“Recruitment targets were set and missed every year; in the last year, service morale fell to record lows,” said Healey. “Over the last year, our forces were losing 300 more full-time personnel than were joining, every month.”
Healey described the situation as the result of “deep-set problems” that have developed over the past 14 years. While emphasising that reversing these trends will take time, he outlined several initial measures taken by the new government to address the crisis.
The Secretary of State highlighted the government’s recent initiatives, including awarding the largest pay increase for the Armed Forces in over 20 years and ensuring all personnel earn at least the national living wage. Additionally, targeted retention payments have been introduced for tri-service aircraft engineers and soldiers at private and lance corporal ranks with over four years of service.
“Having put in the investment and got these skilled, trained personnel, we want to hang on to them,” Healey explained.
The government also extended childcare provision for personnel serving overseas, which Healey said would benefit around 2,700 individuals. He acknowledged the critical role families play in influencing retention, adding that “the feelings of the families who stand with and support personnel” are often decisive factors in whether personnel stay or leave.
Healey admitted that the MOD has struggled to streamline the recruitment process, with many applicants abandoning their applications due to delays. He revealed that over the past decade, more than a million young people applied to join the Armed Forces, but over three-quarters gave up before reaching the point of acceptance or rejection.
“We have swept away some of the historical restrictions on people joining,” said Healey, adding that the MOD has introduced a new cyber recruitment pathway and set turnaround targets to ensure faster responses to applicants.
Ian Roome MP raised concerns about delays in medical assessments and the role of contractor Capita in prolonging recruitment times. Healey responded candidly: “We are some way off at the moment, but that is the purpose of setting targets. If we do not [respond faster], we lose good people, who will go elsewhere, especially in a tight labour market.”
Lieutenant General Sir Rob Magowan added that the Armed Forces recruitment programme will undergo a significant overhaul by 2027, with a fully digitised pipeline expected to resolve many of the current issues.
“The heart of the problem is that it is often not easy to track where [applicants] are,” Magowan said. “This digitisation will greatly improve what you just said and help us to meet those targets.”
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No one wants to be part of a decaying organisation. Cuts, cuts, cuts have an effect on morale across the services (JHC personnel not likely to hang around after Puma cuts). That service chiefs don’t get this is astonishing!
That’s before asking the question of why serve for a country whose leaders seem hell bent on destroying its fabric!
Yep.
Also the Young generation don’t want to fight and die for a country that won’t even let them fly their flag or celebrate their proud British heritage. People are smart actually, why would anyone with a brain fight and die for Starmer or for leftist, woke ideology? Indigenous British males are not dying for woke people and millions of immigrants so they can stay safely at home while you put your neck on the line?? Liberals at hone free to hate and bash their country? No. No thank you.
So right Rob, Daniele and mj. And if 75% of applicants drift off because the induction process is so ridiculously slow and riddled with ‘wokeness’, the answer is to speed it up bigtime! In one simple stroke the services would have all the recruits that are needed. Can the powers-that-be really not get their heads round this simple reality?
No offence but this isn’t why people join up or leave.
“That’s before asking the question of why serve for a country whose leaders seem hell bent on destroying its fabric!”
Most guys join up because its something they’ve always wanted to do, ‘adventure’, camaraderie or because its a safe job. Most aren’t particularly political. That’s what people who ARE into politics think about it. Most don’t even join up for money although as in most walks of life it becomes more important as you get older and want more ‘stuff’ like cars, houses and holidays but by then you’re in the system and either like it and stay or don’t and leave when you can.
Most leave for an accumulation of ‘bullshit’ stuff and getting mucked around unnecessarily rather than some deeply held political philosophy. Collective punishment is still a ‘thing’, some guys did something silly/naughty so all the guys get punished for it, last time I talked about it with a mate the Junior Rates were still not allowed alcohol in their cabins because some had trashed them. There’s not a great deal to do in Faslane…. Putting your notice in can become contagious, the more that leave the easier it gets. Probably even more so now that everyone is connected and you can spy on peoples lives and see how they’re doing.
The Forces can throw money at this but as long as they treat people poorly they will leave. Historically they young lads going on leave were great ‘recruiting sergeants’ going home with a pocket full of cash and tales of foreign exploits and women. That’s not the tales they’re going home with now and alongside the awful recruitment process we’re not getting bums on seats. Seems foolish to push out the ones you have because you (ie ‘da man’) won’t treat them with respect.
Sadly couldn’t agree more. Not being able to see a dentist because your ship is assigned to another base, not the one you’re in. Coming back from a secondment at 2330 after being up since midnight to find your rack has been given away and there’s no barracks accommodation and so you sleep on someone’s sofa. Watching a very inexperienced officer who hasn’t learned seamanship nearly snap a line on you. The older ones having to share with 18/19 year olds because ‘rank’… not being able to get home to see a slow dying relative because weekend leave only allows those in the relative south to get home for weekenders. Changing base every few weeks. The nonsense admin and lack of help that goes with it. Being deployment after deployment while
some people have permanent shore drafts, do Mon-Thurs and a day off for sport. The system only working for those in the know and everything being dependent on someone helping you out. Want something from stores- please join the queue for a fight for a pair of waterproofs. Want expenses back, need help with admin- another fight. It’s like everyone is using any tiny iota of power to get one over you, rather than help you out. The getting messed around list goes on. The cost of really bad food. Some great people and good bits, but the lows are getting more often and lower and lower.
Funny how this government relates to every problem in this country to the last 14 years of Tory government. Whilst they have done their fair share of damage to UK forces I’d say this has been from poor mismanagement over the last 30 years, both Tory and Labour. This country desperately needs to boost its forces now before it’s too late. I keep reading headlines from the government are ready to meet Russian forces in Europe if necessary but with what?
UK governments never take the military seriously until a major conflict happens and get caught with our pants down, always saying ‘ we should have seen the warning signs and built our defence up way before’….hindsight is our governments only ‘power’
U.K. government – cut defence budget, cut capabilities , make it hard to join and let’s not care about those who leave , muck up buying weapons and other things
Also U.K. government- why are we struggling with recruitment and retention, why do we not have enough of things 😭🙄
No problem they are cutting equipment to suit 😈
Why serve when can not get spares, not much works. Whole Regts are with out Arty (AS90/MLRS) so soldiers stand about doing nothing. Every thing is old, run down and units are under strength, housing is poor as are single soldiers barracks. Forever on exercise playing soldiers but few if any operational depolyments. Soldiers are bored, poorly paid, and ever other day they see cuts and more cuts, top brass are out of touch with reality.
No big surprise then is it.
Get a feeling this is orchestrated? I have for a few years.
I totally agree, they,re traitors.
Pure sophistry and where ‘over the last 14 years’ might be appropriate, here, clearly it is not.
Labour should tell the truth and their times in office over the last 39ish years and set the record straight as well as rebutting some accusations with facts; the above is clap trap by Healey.
Healey is not sugar coating anything here. He is telling it like it is. He should gat at least some credit for that. Proof of the pudding though is if he can fix these manifold problems and very quickly.
I think Healy will find the recruitment issues and retention are rooted in change in societies attitudes towards serving their country rather than the recruitment process. And he and the police class are accountable for that.
Typo “political class”
I quite liked Ben Wallace. I thought he was always trying to push the Military profile and get things moving, but at the end of the day he was just another part of the government food chain and would I guess have toed the party line. When was the last time a defence minister quit his post in protest to cuts? Is this new guy going to be any different? My moneys on no.
Not a chance of that as the only way thing could improve would be with an increase in budget. And no government wants to be seen pitting money towards the “pointless and unnecessary” armed forces.
Recruiting is only half the problem. And that is to large degree self inflicted! Crapita one big issue, and the RAF by blatantly and illegally discriminating to meet woke quotas.
Who would want to remain n a military that is in steep decline?
How attractive does trying to build a career look when all that’s ever reported is cuts and reductions?
The risk of war is at the highest for many decades yet our preparedness is at an all time low. Why stay and be ill equipped to survive a coming war?
It is well known service accommodation is poor.
Is it really hard to grasp why we have these problems? It seems obvious to me!
Agree need to make the offer better: Pay, housing, training, housing, families, opportunities post service. The article also states many applicants do not get processed by recruitment within a reasonable time.
Britain has lost it’s patriotism. Anyone flying the Flag is a racist monster now. What do you expect? People aren’t going to fight and die for nothing. Hard tuth warning: Britain is a country with no social cohesion, no shared ideals or culture, pure societal fragmentation, and no national pride. This is what changed in the last 20 years. You hated your country and the young kids agreed with you. There is nothing worth dying for in Britain.
Next on GB News. Is brushing your teeth woke? A new study suggests it might be.
ARE YOU GOING TO RECRUIT WHITE PEOPLE NOW, MR HEALEY?
A few years ago in the RAF they were a lot less keen.
When CGS took his new post months back, the first photograph taken of him meeting staff at Andover was in front of the D,E&I section.
How about trying the opposite and going after white working class lads who might want to “shoot shit up”
and a bit less on the DEI side?
Haha careful someone might call the thought police on you.
You’re 100% right, which likely means your comment will be flagged. Nobody can handle the truth anymore. Good on you for calling out the truth
C’mon Daniele, get off the fence, say it how it is!
👍👍
I thought better of you Daniele.
Speaking as someone who served in Fleet Air Arm when we had three aircraft carriers east of Suez, not alongside the wall in Pompey all the time, yes, I am that old 80 years. The services have too many posts of all services filled by civilians the result being those posts, are no longer valuable down time after operations. But hey ho the employment figures are great for the local MP, and he/she is only interested in the jobs created for more civilians in their constituency. I was told once that the Fleet Air Arm had 90,000 personnel in 1959 makes one wonder how the government think 70,000 is enough for the Army today.
Hiya Micky
I think as the small boats land we should give each one the King’s shilling, six weeks training to complement the training they’ve had in their own countries and ship them off to the Ostfront, we should have enough of the Mohammadans to make a small army group, £3 billion for as long as it takes, it won’t take long. 😎
Russia loses 70,000 every two months in Ukraine. Britain has no chance against Russia and our paltry NATO contribution is going to draw fire from the Americans who don’t see the commitment and are tired of picking up the tab. Someone needs a serious wake up in No. 10.
To all our politicans who are hard of understanding this is what failure looks like. We al realise that you as a political class are absolutely useless at everything. However this is different this is defence of the realm. This is your primary repsonsibility. You are obligated to do something to fix this. But to do this this it will require more resources NOW. You’re going to need to park some of your other “nice to have” priorities and fix this.
In the current international situation allowing this to continue is reckless. The risk of conflict is increasing. The impact of a potential conflict is heightened due to the chronic hollowing out of of defence over a prolonged period. In short not only will our military currently struggle to defend the country they will have difficulties even to defend themselves. If you put foreign aid, Net Zero and rainbow Police Cars before before carrying out your primary responsibility as a government not only should you lose office you should go to jail.
Well said but it might be too late. Woke is a cult and a disease. The Americans have woken up, pun intended, and elected Trump in a landslide who will change all that. But Britain has just started with the woke disease, the anti white disease. Four more years of this should put the country in the bin.
You look at the army and they are rolling around in antique equipment. I know much is promised or in the pipeline but that’s not much use or fun for those serving now. I consider myself lucky to have served when we were still considered to be a credible force. The kit was decent but the accommodation both as a singerly or married pad was poor especially in the UK, BOAR was different and much better. We also used to have some good medical services and rehabilitation centres, do we have any military hospitals now? As for rehabilitation if it wasn’t for the great British public dipping their hands into their pockets for those various charities those boys and girls would be stuffed waiting for their needs to be tended to. I’m sick of politicians who seem happy to promise everything but deliver nothing.
PS… Also those Chiefs of Staffs and heads of the Armed Forces who toed the government line when ever there were cuts, coming out with that old line ‘Leaner and Fitter’ they were also part if the problem just thinking of those pensions.
True. I joined the army in 1975 and left in 2009. The army is still operating kit from before the time I joined!
Similar time line but your extensive career far outdid mine, kudos sir. A lot of our kit is 30+ years old now, not as reliable and do they still have 1st line REME and the spares to solve the problems in the field?
Virtually all military hospitals closed in the early 90s, except Haslar (was RN but became Tri-service) which closed in 2007 and TPMH Akrotiri which closed in 2013.
Don’t blame Politicians – blame your friends, family, neighbour’s, Co workers who voted for them. All Politicians are lying rats, focus your ire on the fools that put them there.
Would it be viable to expand the Gurkha model into other branches of the armed services to help fill the gap? Perhaps have a small air and naval academy in Brunei for training purposes and linking with deployments in the Indo Pacific region.
…and how about MoD ending the current inexplicable pause on recruiting Commonwealth applicants.
I think they will be expanding it beyond the commonwealth.
I’m not surprised considering the accommodation situation, inadequate pay, and how Veterans are treated.
I would think more of him if he didn’t say, problems of the last 14 years, utterly ignoring the previous mess Labour made of it too…
Own it, then repair it!!!
There comes a point in the spending curve where the cost of financing the churn exceeds the costs to retain.
– recruitment
– initial training
– learned skills values
– actual qualified skills values
– seniority / pay band
Those can, quite accurately, be assigned costs and values.
For instance, to turn someone into an experienced NCO is an expensive business.
Clearly you cannot stop all leavers as there is a natural rate of churn with people leaving due to lack of promotion or family/health to band but a few.
Thing is the savings from breaking the cycle would be delivered in the short term.
I wonder if this analysis exists?
I also suspect it doesn’t drive itself to a logical conclusion because if the way budgets are held….but that is a matter for Healey to change as it is his department!
Does the army pay employers NI on salaries? If it does it will have been screwed by the recent budget.
Perhaps a different perspective. These “financial incentives” they keep doing for specific trades and areas of dire need, serve to also demoralise the rest of the forces further. It’s frustrating to see people you work alongside receive large hand-outs just for turning up, while you’re left behind in the dirt. Obviously needs must, but they need to get a grip of defence as a whole – not plug gaps while taking the majority of personnel for mugs.
Ahh the benefits of privatization – Capita at their best trousering £500M for destroying the services. The answers? More privatization, more defence industry sell off – more foreign kit that fails and we can’t (apparently enforce any contract terms). A revolving door on main building to GD, LM, etc.
No force structure vision, accommodation described as ‘not fit for human habitation’ when offered for use by illegal immigrants – but OK for service personnel.
Service personnel hounded by corrupt lawyers without legal redress and no action taken against Phil Shiner even though he’s cost the country £30 million and ruined lives whilst squirreling away his ill gotten gains.
Can’t think why there is a problem….