In total, 294,990 employees work in the sector, 88,550 of which are in the Civil Service. The majority of service staff work in the army. Turner et al. (2003) estimate that there are an additional 145,000 employees in indirect employment (manufactures and suppliers). As a result of contracting out, the proportion of civilians had fallen from around 33% in 1996 to around 30% in 2004.

Source: MoD website 2004, DASA 2004 and Turner et al. 2003

For more detailed figures on the number of staff in different departments of the MoD see:

Source: DASA National Statistics website 2004. DASA (Civilian) DASA (Tri-Service) (1 June 2003). For civilians, figures include full-time equivalents for part-time staff.

The Services face an uphill struggle to recruit and retain personnel and to achieve a balanced personnel profile. The personnel deficit cannot be entirely solved by recruitment. Therefore, retention is critical. The services aim to achieve an effective balance between experienced employees and young recruits to maintain operational effectiveness.

Recruitment and retention has been identified as a means to achieve the government’s objectives. Plans are that:

• at the end of 2004, the Royal Navy and RAF should achieve and maintain personnel balance
• at the end of 2005 the Army should achieve and maintain personnel balance

Source: MoD 2003a and MoD 2003b

Approximately 23,500 Service Personnel left the Armed Forces during 2003/04, which is a similar number compared to other years.  The majority of those leaving the Armed Forces were from Other Ranks (defined as OR-4 and below), reflecting the fact that most leave voluntarily occurs in the first 4 to 8 years of service. For Officers, the outflow rate was around 6% for all three Services.  For Other Ranks, the Army had the highest percentage leaving at 14% compared to 8% in the RAF.

Source: DASA 2004

For further information on the numbers leaving the Armed Forces see the DASA National Statistics website 2004. 

Note: * Data for 2003/04 are not available.

Source: DASA 2004, page B-12.

The MoD identified skill shortage areas including:

• Defence Medical Services
• Airmen Aircrew
• Submariners
• Royal Signals

Under-recruitment in these key areas has increased the burden on other employees, generating a vicious spiral of more frequent deployments, increased separation and longer working hours, contributing to a negative impact on retention.

Source: MoD 2003a

At the end of 2003/04, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines had a shortfall of some 1,250 personnel against the trained strength requirement (a deficit of 3.2%).  This is a slight increase from the position a the beginning of the year when the deficit was 2.4%. During the year, there was continued pressure on the requirement and reductions in wastage rate during the initial training. However, reduced inflow and high outflow for Ratings have offset these gains. Shortages in some braches remain a concern, including engineering trades, Warfare Leading Hands and Petty Officers, Submarine Leading Hand Communicators, Royal Marine, Other Ranks and Medical Assistants (submarines).

As at 1 April 2004, the Army had a shortfall of 2,960 personnel against the requirement (a deficit of 2.8%), representing a continuing trend of improvement from the deficit of 4.5% previously. This was primarily due to strong recruiting and inflow to trained strength, and good levels of retention.

Premature Voluntary Retirement (PVR) rates form non-commissioned ranks improved from 5.5% to 5.3%, while for Officers there was a marginal deterioration from 3.4% to 3.7%. 

Personnel shortages exist within 26 Army trade groups in the Royal Logistics Corps, the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, the Royal Signals, the Royal Engineers, the Intelligence Corps and the Army Medical Services. These ‘pinch point’ trades are being targeted with a package of financial and other measures to alleviate the high levels of operational commitment experienced by the individuals within the groups.

The number of personnel in the Royal Air Force remained fairly stable during 2003/04 with the overall personnel deficit being around -1.5%. Shortages in certain key branches and trades, such as medical officers and junior officer navigators remain a concern. The average number of exits from the Service through PVR remains constant at 2.1% for officers and down from 3.9% to 3.7% for airmen.

Source: MoD 2005

For more information on replacement demands in the public administration and defence sector see:

• Versatile and innovative commanders with skills such as the ability to forge personal relationships, motivate, develop understanding, use judgement and initiative.
• Junior and senior non-commissioned officers to exercise leadership and management (including pressures of media attention).
• A growing need for cognitive skills as the knowledge society is becoming more important.
• Less emphasis is placed on formal classroom instruction and more responsibility on individual development. Coaching and mentoring will thus become more important skills required by leaders and managers.
• Training and education will continue to play a major role.
• Increased lifelong learning may lead to more graduates joining the Services especially with an increasing need for technical specialisation and as a consequence there will be a higher average recruitment age. Recruits are expected to have greater expectations, be more mature and socially less impressionable.
• Constant changes outside the operational management will flatten hierarchies. There are likely to be greater leadership challenges, with managers leading integrated (military/civilian/multi-disciplined) project teams. The scope for working in multinational and industrial partnerships will increase.

Source: MoD 2001

Some predictions about future employment indicate a modest shift from civilian to service personnel, whereas other data predict a decline in both civilian and service personnel. The total number of MoD employees, as well as Trading Fund staff is expected to decrease slightly over the next few years.

Future employment in the sector depends on the:

• UK’s contribution to the European Defence Initiative which will support its own foreign policy as well as NATO
• changes within the security environment (new, diverse risks, challenges and opportunities)
• innovative ways of providing training to help alleviate operational overstretch
• deployment of flexible, multi-disciplined forces

Source: MoD 2001

Trading funds are a means of financing the revenue-generating operations of a government departments which takes them outside the Supply process. They are not separate legal entities and remain part of a department (or are departments in their own right).
Source: Central Accountancy Team (2004) Guide to the Establishment and Operation of Trading Funds. London: HM Treasury.