WSJ: Defence enterprises in Europe face staff shortage
The conflict in Ukraine has spurred demand for weapons in the United States and Europe but along with a flood of orders defense companies are facing a shortage of employees, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“Some experts have doubts about working for arms manufacturers. In addition, defence companies are trying to compete for workers in an area that has long been struggling to recruit,” the Journal reports.
It is always difficult for the defence industry to recruit staff, said a UK-based recruiter specialising in the defence industry. At the same time, many vacancies require employees with rare and narrow specialisations. MBDA, for example, is currently looking for a warhead engineer and Rheinmetall is recruiting virtual reality experts.
“While there are plenty of applicants for regular jobs, candidates for more skilled positions are a ‘piece of cake’,” Colin McClean, managing director of Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land, a joint venture to manufacture tanks and armoured vehicles, told the WSJ.
The recruitment problem is part of a wider supply chain crisis for the defence industry. Weapons manufacturers are facing shortages of key components such as chips and rocket engines, as well as rising prices. Because of this, some contractors are having difficulty fulfilling orders, the paper summarised.
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