Recruitment Rises 12.5% Despite Ongoing Challenges

The Defense Department’s armed services branches hired 12.5% more individuals in 2024 than in the year prior in spite of a challenging and disinterested recruiting market.

Katie Helland Director of Military Accessions Policy Katie Helland speaks to members of the media throughout a panel on financial year 2025 recruiting goals at the Pentagon, Oct. 30, 2024.
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Credit: employment Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jackie Sanders, DOD.
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While speaking at a multiservice panel on 2025 recruiting problems at the Pentagon previously this week, Director of Military Accession Policy Katie Helland said that the services increased the variety of employees from 200,000 in FY 2023 to 225,000 in FY 2024, which ended September 30.

Additionally, she stated, the services had a 35% boost in composed agreements, and the active elements‘ postponed entry program started FY 2025 with a 10% pool.

“ [The Office of the Secretary of Defense] and the services will continue to develop off the momentum that we’ve gotten in 2024,“ Helland said.

“ Nevertheless,“ she continued, „we need to stay very carefully positive about the future recruiting operations as we continue to hire in a market that has low youth tendency to serve, minimal familiarity with military opportunities, a competitive labor market and a decreasing eligibility among young adults.“

Helland elaborated on those challenges by discussing that, employment for the very first time given that the metric has actually been tracked, most young people have actually never ever considered the option of serving in the armed force.

The reasons behind that are multifold, Helland stated. Young Americans have less ties to pals or member of the family who have served in the armed force. There is a declining presence of veterans in our society. Approximately 77% of people in between the ages of 17 and 24 require some kind of waiver to serve due to any variety of disqualifications.

To counter such challenges, Helland said the military has carried out a medical pilot program that enables recruits to join the military without a waiver for numerous health conditions – provided they meet particular requirements. Additionally, there are service member preparation courses that prepare recruits to fulfill the laborious requirements of military service. Moreover, DOD is seeking to reconnect with youth and their influencers by showing them the worth of serving.

“ The next generation of Americans to serve need to understand that there has actually never been a better time for them to pick military service,“ Helland said.

Panel Pentagon Press Secretary Flying Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder helps with a panel on 2025 recruiting goals at the Pentagon, Oct. 30, 2024.
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“ Youth today seek a bigger function in their lives and desire jobs where they have greater involvement in decision-making and can create a direct tangible effect,“ she continued. „Military service provides all of this.“

Explaining that U.S. military service uses more than 250 occupations which it represents one of the most extremely informed organizations throughout the world and throughout all pay grades, Helland said the Defense Department is striving to counter the narrative that joining the military is an alternative to going to college or „a choice of last option.“

“ We are working to reframe this narrative so that Americans understand that military service is a pathway to greater education and profession opportunities while defending democracy and the freedoms we hold dear,“ Helland stated.

She included that DOD is reframing this narrative. For instance, the department’s Joint Advertising Marketing research and Studies program will soon introduce a project to construct familiarity with the American public about the worth of military service. Plans are likewise continuing to have adult influencers promote for employment military service.