Defence Firms Pledge 40,000 Youth Jobs a Year, Rising to 50,000 by 2035

Thirteen of the UK's largest defence companies have signed the biggest ever agreement between government and industry to expand routes into work, apprenticeships and training for young people, the Ministry of Defence announced on 24 September 2026. Under the deal, 40,000 18 to 24 year olds across the UK will be offered opportunities and employment in skilled defence careers every year by 2030, a figure the government says will rise to 50,000 a year by 2035.

The agreement was signed by Defence Secretary Wes Streeting and industry leaders at a roundtable in London the day before the announcement, and forms a key part of the government's upcoming Industrial Strategy Defence Jobs Plan. It commits companies to expanding apprenticeship routes, offering more work experience placements, signposting unsuccessful candidates to other opportunities in the sector, and increasing engagement with schools and communities by 2035.

What the 13 Defence Firms Have Signed Up To

The Defence Secretary was joined at the London roundtable by representatives from Airbus, Babcock, BAE Systems, Helsing, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, MBDA, Navantia, Palantir, QinetiQ, Rolls Royce, Safran and Thales. Between them, the companies have committed to four specific pledges, increasing the number of defence apprenticeships to at least 14,000 young people by 2035, expanding work experience placements and NEET related pathways by at least 25 per cent by 2035, delivering a quarter more career, STEM and community engagement interactions by 2035, and adopting a "no wrong door" approach across the industry.

That last commitment means that, with an individual's consent, applicants who are unsuccessful for one role can be considered for other suitable opportunities elsewhere in the defence supply chain, rather than simply being turned away. The Ministry of Defence has framed the overall package as the "biggest ever" agreement of its kind between government and business on youth routes into work.

The pledge sits inside a broader set of announcements the government says are aimed at tackling youth unemployment, including new technical routes for 14 year olds, a faster rollout of the Youth Guarantee in key sectors, and 100,000 additional work experience placements in retail. Ministers describe all of this as part of a wider drive to help young people "earn or learn."

Why Wes Streeting Calls Youth Unemployment a "Moral Emergency"

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said the government had delivered "the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War" to strengthen deterrence and respond to evolving threats, and argued that investment should also be used to create opportunities for young people. He said it was "a moral emergency that a million young people are out of work or education," adding that without good, well paid, high skilled jobs in defence industries, "we cannot keep our country safe."

The commitment builds on a £182 million defence skills package announced last year, which the department says was designed to ensure every region benefits from Ministry of Defence expenditure. That sits alongside the wider £298 billion Defence Investment Plan, which the government says will see more than 60,000 new roles created across the UK. The upcoming Defence Jobs Plan is expected to set out how government and industry intend to meet demand for around 53,000 additional workers across the sector by 2035.

The 'Lost Generation' Warning Behind the Pledge

The announcement comes ahead of the full publication, expected this autumn, of Alan Milburn's Young People and Work report. Milburn, who chairs the review, said the interim findings identified work experience as "widely recognised as essential" to help young people build the skills and confidence needed to succeed, while warning that the first rung of the career ladder "has thinned."

Speaking about today's pledge, Milburn said "every young person deserves a first chance into work, but for too many the first rungs of the career ladder have disappeared," and described defence as an industry with "both the scale and the opportunity" to give young people experience, skills and confidence to build a career. He called the commitment "exactly the kind of action that can change young people's lives," framing it as a "win win" that pairs opportunities for young people with a sustainable supply of skilled labour for industry.

Executives from the signatory companies broadly welcomed the pledge in statements issued alongside the announcement. BAE Systems chief executive Charles Woodburn said expanding pathways into defence would "attract the breadth of talent needed to deliver the next generation of military equipment," while Babcock International chief executive Harry Holt said the commitment built on work the company already does through apprenticeships, graduate schemes and STEM outreach. ADS Skills director general Paul Oxley noted that 75 per cent of the sector's industry footprint sits outside London and the South East, arguing it offers "life changing career potential" across the country.

How Young People Can Actually Get Into These New Defence Roles

The pledge itself is a set of commitments rather than a fully detailed programme, and much of the operational detail is expected to arrive with the Industrial Strategy Defence Jobs Plan, which the Ministry of Defence says ADS, the trade body representing the sector, has helped draft. That plan is expected to set out in more depth how government and industry intend to close the gap between current workforce numbers and the roughly 53,000 additional workers the industry says it will need by 2035.

For now, young people interested in defence careers have no new single application route created by this announcement, but the pledge instead asks the 13 signatory companies to expand their existing apprenticeship schemes, work experience offers and community engagement over the coming years. Progress against the 2030 and 2035 targets has not yet been tied to any published reporting mechanism.

The next significant marker will be the publication of Alan Milburn's full Young People and Work report this autumn, which is expected to set out further recommendations for tackling the number of young people not in employment, education or training. How closely government and industry act on both that report and today's pledge is likely to shape whether the 40,000 and 50,000 targets are treated as a floor or a ceiling for ambition in the years ahead.