BAE Systems is set to hire thousands of new apprentices and graduates in 2025 as its investment in skills is expected to reach £1bn.
Since the start of the decade, the firm has recruited thousands of apprentices and graduates each year.
This will continue into 2025 with the company announcing it will recruit a further 2,400 trainees. This will bring the total number of young people in training at the company to 6,500, who make up approximately 15% of BAE’s UK workforce.
Training these newcomers will see BAE invest a further £230m in education and skills, bringing the total investment in skills to over £1bn since 2020.
The funding is spent primarily on UK apprentices, graduates and experienced employees, as well as education outreach. Many of its early-career recruits are trained at its skills academies located in Glasgow, Barrow and Samlesbury.
Charles Woodburn, chief executive of BAE Systems, said: “As the UK’s largest defence company, we rely on the skill and ingenuity of those who deliver our programmes, which is why it’s so crucial we continue to invest in our people. With thousands of roles open for application across the length and breadth of the country and our exciting high-technology programmes, there has never been a better time to embark on a new career with us.”
The 2,400 new trainees joining the company in 2025 will be made up of 1,300 apprentices, who will predominantly be based in the north of England, and 1,100 graduates and undergraduates, who will work on BAE’s advanced technology programmes including the global combat air programme and the UK’s next-generation submarines known as SSN-AUKUS.
The company says that by investing so heavily in skills it is helping to build the UK’s engineering skills base and support the government’s ambitions of meeting the skills needs of the next decade.
John Healey, secretary of state for defence, said: “Defence offers exciting careers and this investment is a vote of confidence in the UK as a leader for cutting-edge employment, creating highly skilled jobs across the UK.
“National security is the foundation for national stability and growth. Our defence industrial strategy will ensure our defence sector is an engine for jobs and growth, strengthening our security and our economy.”
Around 95% of apprentice trainees complete their apprenticeship with BAE Systems and go on to secure full-time employment with the company. BAE Systems’ apprenticeship programme is rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, and in 2023 the company ranked in the top 10 of the Department for Education’s apprenticeship employers and top 25 ofThe Times’ graduate employers.
The closing date for apprentice applications is 28 February 2025. There are multiple graduate intakes throughout the year, including in January, June and September. Find out more and apply at baesystems.com/earlycareers
BAE has also been on a UK investment drive of late. Last month, the firm announced it was investing £220m to significantly upgrade its UK aerospace technologies factory in Rochester. The company also recently invested £300m to upgrade its Glasgow-based shipbuilding facilities and £200m to upgrade its UK munitions business.
Just over a week ago it announced its latest investment – £25m for a new 94,000 sq ft facility in Sheffield that will specialise in artillery to deliver the company’s M777 lightweight towed howitzer manufacturing capability.
