UK Veterans, Growth Sectors, and National Security

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British Veterans Missing Out on Jobs of the Future Risks UK Security<br>UK service leavers need to adapt to secure jobs in growth sectors, but employers are missing out on talent through misunderstanding the veteran community.

Jonathan Singh<br>Jun 10, 2026

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British veterans are highly employable - and highly employed - with most finding civilian work after their service.<br>But former members of the armed forces may miss out on prime roles in the UK’s growth areas by not convincing employers of the skills they bring.<br>And in a world of grey zone and hybrid conflict - that could be a risk to national security and economic prosperity.

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Where Veterans Are — and Aren’t

Overall employment rates for UK veterans are similar to the general population, but there is a big difference between the rates of veteran employment across sectors.<br>Unsurprisingly service leavers are employed at a higher rate in sectors including the defence industry, transportation, and skilled trades.<br>But veterans are significantly underrepresented in key areas of the British economy including education, hospitality, the arts, and care provision according to data published by the Office for National Statistics.<br>It seems natural that veterans would gravitate to work where there was an established pathway formed by previous service leaders, or where there is a direct application of skills or trades learnt in service.<br>But in a rapidly shifting employment landscape, the jobs of the future are likely to come in sectors where there is less history of veteran employment - and less understanding of service leaver skills.<br>The current Labour government’s industrial strategy outlines eight growth-driving strategic sectors. These include the creative industries, financial services, life sciences, and digital technologies. Sectors which may not immediately connect with service leavers, but which are all in need of the skills veterans bring.

Lost in Translation

And for both veterans themselves and employers, finding a common language around those skills is key.<br>“Military service produces really good humans and that’s what industry are crying out for”, argues Jonny Ball, who served in the British army and who now campaigns on veterans’ affairs and delivers the Veterans Industry Engagement program for Mission Community.<br>Ball believes the lack of understanding about veterans in some employment sectors is partly down to the way service leavers tell their own stories.<br>“We need to help industry understand, because as soon as they understand veterans as real people then they understand what they can bring through their lived experiences and skills”, said Ball.<br>Former Royal Air Force officer Tim Corry agrees that language is key.<br>“I think terminology doesn’t help as veterans can come out with a different lingo that’s not understood by employers.”<br>Corry, who has worked to support veterans transition into civil aviation, and who now runs a business in the care sector, thinks it’s a matter of education on all sides.<br>“For veterans it’s a mindset change in understanding how to blow their own trumpet, and how to frame their skills and experiences within a civilian competency-based structure.”<br>And he points to a wider social challenge around veterans in the UK.<br>“I don’t think civilian employers understand the skills that veterans have, because I don’t think that the vast majority of civilians understand the military anymore”, he explained.

There Is Precedent

To try to address some of the gaps in understanding, the UK Ministry of Defence published a veterans’ strategy last year aiming to make the skills of ex-service people “better understood and appreciated”, and setting out plans for veterans to drive economic growth and to explicitly contribute to national security.<br>Delivering the strategy will mean changing perceptions, but Ball highlights the work that has been done in the financial services sector - one of the eight strategic growth areas – as an example of what can be achieved.<br>“A very bombastic and energetic individual in former Colonel Stuart Tootal disrupted Barclays’ way of hiring veterans by influencing senior industry leaders which other banks and companies then saw and replicated”, explained Ball.<br>Within the finance sector there are now veterans’ employment programs at leading firms including Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan. Ball believes that what he described as a “virtuous insurgency” within finance can be replicated in other strategic areas.<br>“We need to work with other emerging sectors like tech and the creative industries where pioneer veterans exist and support them to share their stories to inspire others”, he said.

Models That Work

And the shifting geopolitical context means that employers might be more willing to listen to those stories with both Ball and Corry...