Where have all the Army recruits gone?
ARMY recruiting has tailed off disastrously since the Government privatised it. I was involved with Army recruiting for several years before 2013 when the MoD outsourced it to Capita in a ten-year, £1.3 billion contract. Capita might be a huge multinational organisation, but it knew nothing about Army recruiting. As soon as it took over, it shut down 100 Army careers offices, effectively making 500 staff redundant. the recruiting hub was moved to the National Recruiting Centre (NRC) in Upavon, Wiltshire. Staff there were receiving up to 10,000 calls a week with 50,000 applicants in the pipeline, and frontline staff were unable to cope with the volume of work. Capita had decided against focusing on the large-scale schools recruitment fairs from which the Army had traditionally gained new recruits, limiting the number of events. So it failed to meet the Government’s target figures for new recruits. Meanwhile, by contrast, the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and RAF, who hadn’t signed up to Capita, had positive advertising and didn’t close their careers offices, enjoyed a recruiting boom. Capita was paid for each recruit on entry into phase-one training and so focused on that. this led to it compromising on standards: it simply sent anyone up to the infantry training centres without adequately prescreening, which meant alarming numbers failing at the selection centres. MPs conducted several high-profile visits to the NRC to see why this well- established firm was failing to deliver the terms of the contract. Capita was heavily criticised, but still failed to deliver the agreed numbers each month. Before Capita took over, the Army recruiting process used to take three months. Under Capita, it took six to 18 months. Applicants disappeared in the new online recruiting system. every applicant had to have a medical exam by a GP who was paid about £98 per applicant by the Army but had 40 days to send the medical details to the NRC. Many of these documents simply failed to materialise or the applicant gave up waiting and joined the RAF or Navy. this year, with David Cameron’s declaration that the MoD will recruit 30,000 reservists, Capita is focused on reserves. Soldiers today are much more switched on than senior staff give them credit for: they know that if the regiment is undermanned, they can sign off and apply to join the reserves for a £5,000 to £8,000 ‘golden hello’ — and many are taking advantage of this. the Labour Party says it will cut the Armed Forces even further. None out of Labour, Lib Dems or tories has mentioned the Nato requirement of 2 per cent of GDP to be spent on the Armed Forces. the days when the Army offered great career opportunities are long gone. Potential applicants with access to internet are well aware of the downsides of an Army career these days.