Launch of the survey on European defence industry

For every day that Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine continues, it is becoming more and more evident that Europe must ramp-up its defence industry, both for our own security and to support Ukraine. A critical factor in this ramp-up is the industry's access to skilled labour.

In this context, the EU defence industry has called for actions to increase the attractiveness of the sector, especially among young people. The European Defence Industrial Strategy was launched in March 2024 and acknowledged that understanding and mitigating of possible negative perceptions of the defence industry is key to improving the sector's attractiveness and to maintaining a diverse workforce.

As a first step, the European Commission, DG DEFIS, has commissioned RAND and Verian to conduct two surveys with the common objective to get a picture not only of the perceptions of the defence industry, but also how these perceptions relate to the experience of those working in the industry. One survey is thus targeted at students and young professionals in general (i.e. with no affiliation to the defence sector) with the intention of understanding the perception of young people, and the other survey is targeted at people working in the defence industry, with the objective of understanding their experiences and any possible actions that the industry can take to become a more attractive employer.

It is of course of outmost importance that we get a good response rate for this survey, reflecting the diversity of the European Defence Industry in terms of geography, size and sector. DG DEFIS would therefore appreciate your support to the survey targeted at the workforce in the defence industrial sector (including research institute and procurement organisations) by responding to the questionnaire, and also disseminating and promoting the survey among in your network and in your company. You can find the survey for professionals in the defence sector here.

If your network also includes universities, educational providers and other organisations that engage young professionals and students, you are also welcome to disseminate the survey that is targeted at that group. The survey for young professionals and students can be found here. Although this questionnaire is to some extent is focused on the defence industry, it also includes general questions on factors that young people are looking for in a future employer, and could thus inform a wide array of employers and sectors.

The responses will be treated with strict confidentiality, and the results will be presented on an aggregated level where it will not be possible to trace the replies to individual companies or persons.