What’s new in Government & Defence recruitment: Our thoughts on the market

We’re now well into 2025 and it’s been a busy start to the year for Sanderson Government & Defence. But what can we learn from the last few months, and what can we expect from the rest of 2025 in the world of recruitment?

We sat down with G&D’s Head of Recruitment Services James Corcoran for his opinion on how the government and defence market has been looking and where it might be heading.

Focusing on permanent hiring

Well things are changing. It’s been a topsy turvy market over the course of the last 18 months where I’ve seen many organisations swing from putting all their focus on contract hiring, then onto permanent hiring and then back again in a recurring cycle.

But as we started this year, I’ve noticed more stability. Since beginning 2025 with a heavy focus on contract hiring, there’s been a huge shift in interest and conversations leaning more towards permanent hiring. The G&D team have been flying from meeting to meeting lately handing queries from customers on how to design, implement and then deliver numerous projects needing permanent hires.

To be honest, this was a trend I was expecting due to the increase in employer National Insurance contributions the government is implementing, and also the similarities in the market trends to the post financial crisis market. Companies are wanting more value for money with better return on investment, so I’m pleased to see the growth of businesses becoming more attune to the cost of hiring and the value of permanent staff – we’re moving away from the trend of just “hire and hope”.

Filling the skills gaps

Then there’s the change in attitude to the skills gaps that have been present in the government and defence job market.

While some of these gaps will remain due to reactive hiring spurred on by programme wins across the industry, a lot of these gaps will also be plugged. I expect to see a burst of strategic hires taking place in more challenging positions to fill any future skills gaps, as well as training programmes to further plug these gaps.

I strongly believe that its vital companies continue to focus on overcoming their skills gaps to ensure they’re preparing for the future. In my experience it’s key to show stakeholders the return on investment this will bring in order to get everyone on board with hiring pushes or training programmes. We would advise ring fencing a project that has defined outcomes that all stakeholders have agreed on, to increase engagement, foster commitment and prove value for money.

How can we help?

At Sanderson Government & Defence we have a wealth of experience in bringing stakeholders on this journey to ensure your training programme or recruitment drive gets off the ground.

We specialise in starting these conversations, setting up reskilling programmes and sourcing hard to find and hard to reach skill sets that will support your programme of work. The key is to deliver a tailored, outcome orientated service to ensure best value for money and best return on investment – the exact type of work that gets us up in the morning!

If this sounds like something your organisation needs, or you’d just like to chat about how you can start addressing your permanent hiring needs or how to start filling skills gaps, then please do get in touch with me on [email protected]