Britain's defence chief calls on Gen Z grads leaving university to skip corporate jobs and join the military as war with Russia becomes a growing risk | Fortune

"He went as far as urging teenagers and graduates to ditch the corporate careers they may have been studying for, to join the military and help "meet the demands in the U.K. and of our allies to re-stock and re-arm." "Building this industrial capacity also means we need more people who leave schools and universities to join that industry," Knighton said recently at a Royal United Services Institute event in Westminster."

"Asking Gen Zers to do a career-180 and enter the arms industry is a tall order-but the U.K. government is putting its money where its mouth is. The nation is rolling out a new initiative to train teenagers as young as 16 in military technology. Speaking on a recent report that found that the U.K. has a "perilous skills gap" in engineering, Knighton acknowledged a critical need to collaborate with the industry and budding Gen Z professionals."

The UK warns of escalating potential conflict with Russia and asserts defence cannot be outsourced solely to the armed forces. Young citizens are being called upon to join the military and defence industry, with appeals for teenagers and graduates to switch from corporate career tracks to help re-stock and re-arm the nation and its allies. Building industrial capacity requires more school and university leavers entering defence-related industries, supported by parents, schools, and political leaders. The government plans to invest £50 million in defence technical excellence colleges and to train teenagers from age 16 in military technology to address a perilous engineering skills gap.

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