Leading UK companies sign commitment to hire military veterans in bid to bridge digital skills gap

Capita plc, Northrop Grumman, Atos, Leonardo UK, Fujitsu and Leidos join 15,000 Futures initiative

Six major UK employers have become the first organisations to sign a commitment to help armed forces veterans and their partners find meaningful employment in technology and digital roles after leaving the military.

Capita plc, Northrop Grumman, Atos, Leonardo UK, Fujitsu and Leidos and are the first companies to join 15,000 Futures, signalling their intention to fill a proportion of their digital vacancies with former servicemen and women, along with their families.

The initiative was started by workforce technology platform WithYouWithMe, a social impact firm which supports armed forces veterans and their partners, as well as other marginalised sections of society, by delivering innovative aptitude testing and digital skills training for high demand tech careers.

Each year, 15,000 people leave the UK military and return to civilian life, but can struggle to find meaningful employment. Meanwhile, there is a growing global digital skills gap that veterans and their families are able to fill by undertaking the free digital skills training that WithYouWithMe offer on their platform. 

Since it was founded, WithYouWithMe has seen more than 75,000 individuals from around the world, including refugees and neurodivergent individuals, join their platform.

Tom Moore, a former Australian platoon commander and founder and CEO of WithYouWithMe, said:

“We are delighted to have these first six companies join the 15,000 Futures initiative. The response from businesses across the UK has been overwhelming and we are confident that, with the significant commitment they have made, thousands of military veterans will have a more fulfilling career once their time in the military comes to an end.”

Rather than relying on more traditional recruitment practices such a reviewing CVs of job applicants, WithYouWithMe – through its “Potential platform” – provides aptitude and psychometric testing to match candidates to a range of high-demand digital roles.

Sally Walker, Former Director Cyber, GCHQ and National Cyber Force and Non-Executive Director at WithYouWithMe, added:

“The current set up reduces candidates to two pages of A4, we call it a CV. I don’t believe it’s a fair or accurate representation of the talent that exists within the veteran community despite their considerable latent potential.”

WithYouWithMe then provides free training pathways – accredited through the likes of GCHQ and ANSI – to give candidates the optimum chance of success when placed with large employers.

WithYouWithMe’s team of UK advisers who also support the 15,000 Futures initiative include former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Sir James Everard, and Rear Admiral Jim Macleod, who was most recently the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff Personnel Capability.