Army struggling to recruit cyber experts

Private business competition makes recruitment 'a tough, tough play'

Intense competition from the private sector is making it difficult to find cybersecurity experts to join the Army, says its lead recruiter.

Richard Holroyd, managing director of Defence and Security at Capita, which handles recruitment for the Armed Forces, told The Telegraph that private businesses can offer more attractive packages - and demand is high.

"You're saying to people with an interest in [IT], come and be a cyber specialist in the Armed Forces, but Raytheon is saying come and be a cyber specialist, BT are saying come and be a cyber specialist. So in those spaces, you're competing.

"In a labour market with full employment it's a tough, tough play."

The difficulties in finding technical staff mean Capita is only on track to hit 80% of its Army recruitment target this year - although the exact target was not shared.

New data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the market for UK tech roles rose at one of its fastest rates in a decade in Q2 this year. Around 85,000 roles were added in the quarter, taking the total to 1.73 million jobs.

However, all of that increase came from men, according to the ONS. The number of men in UK technical roles rose by 88,000 in Q2, while the number of women fell by 3,000.

Andy Heyes, MD UK&I and Central Europe at technology recruiter Harvey Nash, said:

"At Harvey Nash, we're seeing ongoing demand for technology staff across skillsets, in particular developers, cyber specialists, project managers and business analysts. There is also high demand for transformational CIOs. For organisations struggling to find or make budget for permanent staff, contingent worker demand is rising too."

However, he called the fall in women in technical roles "disappointing," and "a concern."

"The industry needs to stay committed to driving up the number of women in tech, which is already too low. This quarter's dip shows that it's hard to make progress stick."

A reduction in job postings offering flexible working, which is being threatened by back-to-office mandates, may be behind the slip, said Heyes.

On Army recruitment, Holroyd pointed out that cyber experts have "much more choice" today than they have ever done in the past. He also added that private sector companies tend to be faster at recruiting than the public sector.

Ben Wallace, Secretary of State for Defence, told Parliament last month that the UK has an "urgent requirement to continue to modernise the force to keep pace with technological developments."

Despite the rise in UK technical roles, cybersecurity staff specifically remain in short supply.

Government figures show that, even in the private sector, employers are finding it difficult to recruit cyber experts, with more than 160,000 roles advertised last year - up more than 30% on the year before.

Cyber is seen as an important area of modern warfare, able to level the playing field between well-equipped modern armies and smaller nation states.

The UK launched the National Cyber Force (NCF) in 2020, a group of specialists trained in offensive cyber operations.

Earlier this year, the NCF shared a little information about its operations. They include countering terrorist groups, infiltrating digital communications and disabling hostile technology.

Regarding the difficult recruitment situation, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "We are confident ongoing work will ensure the Armed Forces remains a highly attractive employer. The Ministry of Defence will continue to address skills shortages in the coming years as outlined in the Defence Command Paper 2023, particularly around cybersecurity.

"In July we announced plans to prioritise greater career flexibility; implement a Total Reward Approach; and digitise our people management system."