The European Union plans to upskill or reskill 600,000 workers for its defence industry by 2030 to address a critical labour shortage that is hindering the bloc’s urgent rearmament efforts. This initiative is a central part of the European Commission’s Defence Industry Transformation roadmap, presented on Wednesday.
Europe is in a race to rapidly increase its defence production, primarily using European-made equipment, in response to growing security concerns, particularly the threat posed by Russia. However, a major impediment is a severe shortage of qualified personnel needed to design and manufacture the required volume of materiel.
A Commission official noted that this skills shortage is becoming a “major bottleneck” as defence actors scramble to boost production of increasingly innovative products. The gap is leading to “fierce competition” for talent both within the defence industry and between sectors.
The skills deficit is a problem on both the supply and demand sides of the defence sector. On the supply side, the development of disruptive technologies like AI and quantum computing for defence applications is constrained. On the demand side, armed forces and procurement bodies lack the necessary expertise to quickly acquire and integrate these complex new systems.
The job market within the European defence industry began to expand again in 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which prompted EU member states to commit to significantly ramping up defence spending after decades of underinvestment.
In 2023, the EU defence industry generated approximately 581,000 jobs. Data from the European Defence Agency showed that while job postings eased slightly from a late 2022 peak, they remain 41% above 2021 levels. Despite this growth, the Commission’s roadmap warns that the existing labour and skills gap “threatens its operational capabilities and hence impacts EU’s security.”
European Commissioner for Defence, Andrius Kubilius, specified the targets for the new measures: to upskill around 12% of the existing defence and aerospace workforce each year and to reskill 600,000 people for the defence industry by the end of the decade.
To meet these ambitious targets, the Commission is introducing several new programs: Skills Guarantee Pilot: This scheme is designed to facilitate the transition of workers from sectors undergoing restructuring, such as the automotive sector and its related supply chains, into jobs within growing strategic sectors like defence.
EU Defence Industry Talent Platform: This platform will support traineeships in dual-use and defence-related SMEs, small mid-caps, startups, and scaleups through a system of vouchers. The pilot scheme plans to deliver 300 such vouchers to students, aiming to offer opportunities for “curious and bright minds to actually get acquainted with what it takes to embed innovation in the defence ecosystem.”
Leveraging Existing Institutions: The strategy involves utilising established EU online learning bodies, such as the EUSPA Space Academy and Digital Skills Academies, to develop and foster defence-related expertise.
In the longer term, the Commission also envisages establishing a standalone EU Defence Industry Skills Academy. However, this will not be set up until 2028, coinciding with the start of the bloc’s next budgetary period.
