Overseas poaching threat to highly skilled ex-military personnel
Thursday 16 December 2010 10:32 AM
THE UK economic recovery could face a serious setback with the threat of thousands of highly skilled ex-military personnel being lured overseas to work, according to industry experts.
Experts at Leicester-based Gemini Forces said enquiries from overseas companies in a range of sectors looking for ex-military personnel to join them were already on the increase.
And with an anticipated influx of ex-military personnel returning to civilian life with defence cuts on the horizon, the UK could miss out on utilising their skills as foreign companies snap them up because they are the strongest candidates in a number of sectors.
Harry Dean, Gemini Forces director who served in the Army for 30 years, said: “We’ve started to notice an increasing trend for overseas companies to look to Service leavers in the UK as potential employees due to the skill sets they have to offer. In our experience this covers everything from security work to light and heavy mechanics.
“While this reflects very positively on the fact that they recognise candidates from the UK are often best qualified to fill their vacancies, the clear danger is that companies in the UK could miss out on employing the best at what is a crucial stage in its economic recovery.
“Our aim at Gemini is to ensure companies in the UK don’t miss out and we alert them to the high calibre of future employees they could access when they leave military life.”
Feedback from ex-military personnel to Gemini about working overseas has included, “the pay is generally better than the UK and the experiences gained from working with different cultures are second to none”. Others have said, “it is very simple the money, the weather and the lifestyle”, and “the ex-pat lifestyle suits military people because it is very similar to service life, with a certain degree of inter-dependence and social interaction which is not always available in civvy street”.
Gemini Forces specialises in helping ex-Services personnel find employment when they return to civilian life. It has helped countless ex-Services personnel make the seamless transition to civilian life, finding employment in an array of industry sectors including Health & Safety, environmental, aviation, facilities management, project management and defence consultancy sectors.
Mr Dean added: “The government has made a point of saying ‘we are all in it together’ in helping the UK emerge from these challenging economic times. At Gemini Forces we are certainly doing our bit to tell companies in the UK about the skills ex-Forces personnel and potential Service leavers have to offer.
“Not only are we helping them make a smooth transition back to civilian life but we are trying to retain a readymade and highly skilled workforce in the UK, which could help give countless businesses a competitive edge in the global marketplace.”
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