Hiring Ex-Military for the Construction Sector: ITS’ Armed Forces Covenant
Short of skilled construction workers? Your perfect candidate could be someone leaving the Armed Forces.
Thousands of highly trained, disciplined and safety-conscious people leave the UK Armed Forces every year, while construction firms up and down the country are tearing their hair out trying to find reliable candidates.
The best site manager you’ll ever hire might still be in uniform. Hiring ex-military for construction is one of the smartest answers to the skills gap this industry has, and here’s why.
At a Glance:
- Veterans bring proven leadership, a safety-first mindset and technical skills that transfer directly to site.
- The CITB says construction needs around 41,200 extra workers every year to 2030. The traditional talent pool won’t cover it.
- Employers can claim National Insurance relief for a qualifying veteran’s first year in civilian work.
- ITS is an Armed Forces Covenant signatory with a dedicated candidate pathway for the Forces community.
- We translate military CVs, arrange certifications and place veterans in temp and perm roles across the UK.
Need Skilled Construction Workers on Site Fast?
If you’re losing programme time to unfilled roles, let’s talk. One call to your local ITS office and we can start matching site-ready candidates to your live requirements, whether that’s temp or perm, trades or management. Get in touch to find out more.
What is the Armed Forces Covenant?
The Armed Forces Covenant is a national promise that those who serve or have served, and their families, are treated fairly and face no disadvantage compared with other citizens when accessing public and commercial services.
Almost 15,000 businesses have signed it, from small companies to household names, each making tailored pledges on how they’ll support the Armed Forces community.
ITS is a Proud Signatory
ITS Building People signed the Covenant just over a year ago.
For our construction clients, this is a commitment that brings genuine benefits: a dedicated Armed Forces candidate pathway, consultants who understand how to translate military experience into site-ready skills and established relationships with resettlement organisations that give us early access to service leavers before they hit the open market.
Signing the Covenant also opens the door to Defence Employer Recognition Scheme awards. These recognise employers delivering tangible support for the forces community, which is something we’re proud to work towards alongside the contractors we supply.
Why Hiring Ex-Military for Your Construction Business Makes Sense
Ask any site manager what they actually want from a new starter, and they’ll rarely tell you that it’s a specific ticket, because those can be sorted. What they generally want is someone who turns up on time, follows process, works safely, mucks in with the team and is calm under pressure.
That’s a near-perfect description of a service leaver.
Proven leadership abilities
Military personnel are trained to lead and to be led.
Someone who’s organised people, kit and logistics under genuine pressure will take the day-to-day chaos of a live site in their stride. Delegation, clear communication and accountability are, for many ex-military personnel, muscle memory.
That’s why construction site manager recruitment is one of the areas where ex-forces really shine. The jump from managing a troop to managing a trade package is far shorter than a lot of employers assume.
A safety-first mindset
Risk assessments, method statements, briefings and permit systems all have direct military equivalents, and veterans usually have an understanding of what makes them so important.
For an industry where health and safety performance directly affects your ability to win work, that instinct is worth its weight in gold.
Transferable technical skills
Royal Engineers, REME technicians, logistics specialists and plant operators: the Armed Forces are full of trades that map directly onto construction roles.
A lot of service leavers already have a range of relevant qualifications as part of the Career Transition Partnership offered by the Ministry of Defence. Others might need a short, targeted top-up (like a CSCS card or an SMSTS course), and they’re site-ready.
Our consultants are briefed on exactly how service ranks, trades and qualifications map to construction roles, so nothing valuable gets lost in translation.
Financial incentives
Employers can claim relief on National Insurance contributions for a qualifying veteran’s first twelve months in civilian employment. Hire the right person, and the Treasury effectively helps with the bill. We make sure every client we work with knows about it.
The Construction Recruitment Skills Shortage Won’t Fix Itself
The CITB’s latest Construction Workforce Outlook estimates the industry needs an average of 41,200 extra workers every year between 2026 and 2030, which works out at around 206,000 additional people over five years. Too few people are entering construction, too many experienced workers are leaving, and productivity gains haven’t closed the gap.
The construction recruitment skills shortage is structural. There is an ageing workforce and a thin pipeline of young entrants, as well as rising demand from housing and infrastructure. All of this points the same way: firms relying solely on the traditional talent pool are fishing in an ever-smaller pond.
The Armed Forces community is a great pool of work-ready people that most contractors barely touch. Time spent in the services should be treated as an advantage, never a barrier, and the firms that grasp that first will win the race for skilled construction workers.
At ITS, We’re Proud to Back Hiring Ex-Military for Construction
This is something we’ve put our name to. ITS Building People is a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant, and our Armed Forces Policy is built to evidence our commitments under the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme at Bronze level, with systems and policies in place to achieve Silver and, eventually, Gold.
Our commitments are owned at board level and reviewed annually, because support should be practical rather than purely symbolic.
A dedicated Armed Forces candidate pathway
We operate an identifiable pathway for Armed Forces community candidates across both our service lines, Trades & Labour and Construction Professional Services, with consultants who understand service backgrounds and can translate a military record into terms a hiring manager instantly gets.
Periods of service, mobilisation or transition are never treated as gaps or negatives in a candidate’s history. We set an annual target for the number of Armed Forces community candidates we place, and we measure and report against it.
We practise what we preach
Inside our own business, any Armed Forces community applicant who meets the minimum criteria for an internal ITS role is guaranteed an interview. Our reservist employees get up to ten days of additional paid leave each year for training, with full mobilisation and reinstatement support, and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers get paid leave for their cadet duties too. We support service spouses and partners with flexible working, and we coach clients to look past the fragmented CVs that come with Forces family life.
Want to Manage Your Construction Recruitment Skills Shortage? Ex-Forces Personnel Could be the Answer.
Beyond filling your vacancies, the ITS team is happy to help you make your own Covenant pledge, engage with the Employer Recognition Scheme and build reservist-friendly arrangements, using ITS as a guide.
It strengthens your social value story on public-sector frameworks, and it widens your talent pool at exactly the moment you need it.
So if you’re serious about beating the skills shortage rather than just moaning about it, find your nearest ITS office, or get in touch with us directly.
FAQs
Why should construction companies hire ex-military personnel?
They bring proven leadership, a safety-first mindset, reliability and transferable skills in plant, engineering and logistics. Most need only minimal top-up training, and employers can claim National Insurance relief for a veteran’s first year.
What construction jobs are ex-military candidates best suited to?
Veterans excel across plant operation, groundworks, M&E trades, logistics, health and safety, and site supervision. Former NCOs and officers suit site and project management, given their planning, people management and decision-making under pressure.
How does ITS help construction firms recruit ex-military candidates?
ITS Building People, an Armed Forces Covenant signatory, translates military experience into construction terms, sources candidates via the Career Transition Partnership and Forces Employment Charity, and supports temporary and permanent hires through 19 UK offices.
