European Defense Industry Faces Potential Massive Skills Shortage Amid Expected Military Build-Up
According to a calculation by the consulting firm Kearney, hundreds of thousands of new job openings would need to be filled, depending on the extent to which European NATO member states actually increase their defense spending. If defense spending only moderately increases to reach the current NATO goal of two percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), a gap of approximately 163,000 skilled workers would arise in Europe, the experts’ calculation shows.
In the event of a significant increase to 2.5 percent of the GDP, around 460,000 open positions would be at risk. At three percent, the current discussion point in NATO circles, as many as 760,000 job openings would be on the table. The situation is particularly dramatic in key technological areas such as artificial intelligence, said Kearney partner Guido Hertel to the Spiegel.
Experts were lacking to accompany the technological shift to autonomous weapon systems, stronger networking on the battlefield and electronic warfare. “Rüstungspolitische Unabhängigkeit in Europa would only be possible if the local share of defense spending were to increase drastically, which would further exacerbate the skills shortage” Hertel said.