Britain’s biggest defence contractor is poised to embark on a record hiring spree of apprentices and graduates.
BAE Systems expects to offer more than 2,600 roles in the coming year – a rise of 40 per cent, or nearly 800, on 2022 – as demand for its military kit from fighter jets to frigates surges amid growing international tensions.
The FTSE 100-listed group currently has 4,300 apprentices and graduates in training. But it is accelerating the programme as outstanding orders climb to more than £50billion.
High-tech: BAE Systems, which employs 35,000 people in the UK, builds kit for Typhoon jets
‘It reinforces our commitment to the next generation and hopefully we’ll be able to give young people across the UK the skills that they need to have a successful career,’ BAE’s HR director Tania Gandamihardja told The Mail on Sunday.
‘Anyone joining us as an apprentice or a graduate will work on some of the world’s most advanced technology programmes,’ she said.
This year BAE took on 1,832 in such roles. They range from 16- year-olds to adults who want a career change, with 15 per cent of apprentices aged over 25. Women made up 30 per cent of apprentices this year in a sector where they are traditionally under-represented.
Starting salaries range from £15,000 to £34,000.
Training is offered across more than 50 programmes from cyber security and software development to aerospace engineering and accountancy. Options include degree apprenticeships, which provide hands-on work alongside study. Gandamihardja said that provides an attractive alternative to university, with more than a quarter of recruits typically coming from disadvantaged areas.
Roles are based mainly in the North of England, but also other locations including Portsmouth.
BAE, which employs 35,000 people in the UK, says 95 per cent of those who start apprenticeships complete them and take a permanent job. It is also offering older workers part-time contracts instead of retiring.
Skills Minister Robert Halfon said: ‘Apprenticeships are the catalyst to boosting the economy, building a skills nation and extending the ladder of opportunity to all.’
