The Government and Britain's leading defence companies have agreed a major expansion of apprenticeships, work experience and training, with the sector set to offer opportunities and good jobs to 50,000 young people every year by 2035.
The agreement, announced by the Ministry of Defence on 24 September, brings together major employers including Airbus, Babcock, BAE Systems, Helsing, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, MBDA, Palantir, QinetiQ, Rolls-Royce, Safran and Thales.
The MOD said the package is intended to tackle youth unemployment while building the skills base needed for Britain's expanding defence sector.
Nearly one million young people in the UK are currently not in education, employment or training, according to the Government, a challenge Defence Secretary Wes Streeting described as a "moral emergency".
40,000 opportunities by 2030, rising to 50,000
Under the agreement, the defence sector will offer 40,000 opportunities and jobs every year by 2030, rising to 50,000 annually by 2035.
The commitments include increasing defence apprenticeships to at least 14,000 young people by 2035, expanding work experience and pathways for young people outside education or employment by at least 25%, and increasing careers, STEM and community engagement.
Streeting said:
We are using that investment to create new opportunities for young people.
He said building a pipeline of skilled workers was important both for young people's futures and for Britain's national security.
'No wrong door' for young applicants
One of the more practical changes is a new "no-wrong-door" approach across participating defence firms.
Where a young person applies for one role but is unsuccessful, companies will, with their consent, be able to direct them towards suitable vacancies elsewhere in the defence supply chain rather than simply ending the application process.
The Government hopes the system will reduce the number of capable applicants who fall out of the recruitment pipeline despite having skills suitable for another employer.
Builds on £182m defence skills package
The announcement builds on the Government's existing £182 million defence skills programme, which includes new technical excellence colleges and initiatives designed to improve the movement of workers and veterans into defence careers.
The Government's Defence Investment Plan is expected to involve £298 billion of investment and support more than 60,000 additional roles across the UK.
Defence is already one of Britain's largest apprenticeship sectors, with the Armed Forces consistently ranking among the country's leading apprenticeship employers.
Part of wider youth employment drive
The initiative also forms part of Labour's broader Youth Guarantee and skills agenda.
The Government has separately committed to creating 50,000 additional youth apprenticeships, alongside hundreds of thousands of work experience and training placements across sectors including retail, construction and aviation.
Ministers argue that defence can play an unusually strong role because it offers routes into engineering, cyber, digital technology, advanced manufacturing and other skilled professions.
Defence spending linked to jobs and skills
The announcement reinforces the Government's effort to connect higher defence spending with economic growth and employment.
Rather than presenting defence investment solely in military terms, ministers increasingly argue that it should also create apprenticeships, high-skilled employment and industrial opportunities across the regions and nations of the UK.
The new agreement therefore has a dual aim: strengthening Britain's defence workforce while giving tens of thousands more young people a practical route into skilled, well-paid careers.
