Military in a losing war for talent - despite benefits, tight labor market and private competition challenge recruiting

[Roxana, “US Army Is Facing ‘War for Talent,’ Courting Gen Z With Benefits,” Bloomberg Government, June 1, 2022, https://about.bgov.com/news/us-army-is-facing-war-for-talent-courting-gen-z-with-benefits/, accessed June 22, 2023, GDS-LL]

National Security Handicap

The US depends on strong, all-volunteer forces to carry out its foreign policy and defend strategic interests. Military leaders often say their services are only as good as their people. With operations shifting to the realms of cyber, artificial intelligence, and hypersonic weapons, and China and Russia challenging U.S. leadership globally, the lack of qualified recruits could become a fundamental national security handicap.

Recognizing the challenges, the Army is proposing to dip below 1 million soldiers for the first time in two decades, according to its budget proposal for the year starting Oct. 1. Leaders said they don’t want to lower standards, and are also facing a tight labor market in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Army Proposes to Cut Its Troop Numbers Below 1 Million

While the Army may feel the most heat, officials from the five military services characterized this year as “arguably the most challenging” for recruiting when they testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in April.

Gil Cisneros Jr., under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, told senators that in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, private companies are competing for a smaller pool of job candidates, presenting the biggest challenge for military recruiting and retention.

“We are in a war for talent,” Gen. James McConville, the Army chief of staff, told the Senate Armed Services panel in May.

Other more lucrative opportunities are available, said Thomas Spoehr, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense. Companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Starbucks Corp. are offering jobs that start at $15 an hour, with college benefits, he said. At the same time, 5 million Americans turn 18 each year, and “we only need a tiny fraction of that” for the military, he said.

“The Army is at least as competitive, and in many cases significantly better than what you might find in the private sector,” Maj. Gen. Alex Fink, the service’s chief of marketing enterprise, said in an interview. He said the Army exceeds in several categories such as pensions, parental leave, and vacation.