The September-October 2026 edition of Civvy Street, a magazine distributed within the Armed Forces community, highlighted how employers can benefit from adopting the Armed Forces Covenant, particularly when seeking to recruit Service leavers, veterans and Forces spouses and partners.
The Armed Forces Covenant is a voluntary pledge through which organisations demonstrate their commitment to ensuring that serving personnel, veterans and their families are treated fairly and are not disadvantaged as a consequence of their service.
For employers, the Covenant also represents a valuable commercial opportunity for hiring and retention.
Each year, individuals with considerable experience in leadership, operational management, engineering, logistics and other specialist disciplines, having received extensive training and developed their skills in demanding environments, leave the Armed Forces in search of a new career. Leavers are of all ages, as the Forces often set standard, and relatively short, service contract lengths and so in many cases, individuals may leave at the peaks of their careers and look to transition those skills into a civilian role.
Forces spouses and partners also represent a substantial pool of highly skilled and experienced professionals from sectors including investment banking, law, product management, medicine and many more, who have often juggled careers with the extra demands of the Forces. Some may have gaps in their employment history arising from accompanied military postings, or may have a non-standard CV as a result of affiliation with the Forces community, despite possessing advanced qualifications and considerable professional experience.
All too often this disparity means that Forces leavers, spouses and partners are often overlooked by automatic CV-reviewing software, or where HR managers do not encourage or understand the submissions by those individuals.
For businesses of all sizes and across all sectors, the Armed Forces community therefore represents an established and often overlooked source of talent, offering skills and experience that might otherwise require considerable investment to develop.
In recognition of this issue, the UK Government’s Ministry of Defence introduced the Armed Forces Covenant and Employer Recognition Scheme, allowing employers to demonstrate publicly that they are willing to accept applications from both Forces leavers and spouses/partners and that the non-standard role progression and circumstances of those individuals will not automatically disqualify them from a potential opportunity by HR and hiring managers.
- Signatories to the Armed Forces Covenant are permitted to display the official Covenant logo on their websites, email signatures and other corporate communications. This provides a visible indication to prospective employees that the organisation recognises and values the Armed Forces community – attracting submissions from individuals who may otherwise have not applied.
- Employers can further strengthen their credentials through the Employer Recognition Scheme, which offers Bronze, Silver and Gold awards recognising increasing levels of commitment and support.
“Telltale hallmarks of Forces friendly employers, of course, include becoming a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant.” – Source: Civvy Street magazine, September-October edition, pages 16–17.
Much like other highly recognised employer standards, these awards can help businesses communicate their employment values and distinguish themselves as attractive places to work.
In addition, from 2025 UK Government bodies as a whole have been required by law to adopt the Armed Forces Covenant to strengthen recruiting and retention capability. This capability equally applies within the private sector.
For CEOs, HR Directors and senior leadership teams, the Covenant provides an opportunity to support the Armed Forces community while strengthening their organisation’s reputation and ability to attract exceptional talent.
Becoming a signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant provides employers with a recognised and visible means of distinguishing themselves within this community’s recruitment market.
Join over 13,000 signatories to the Covenant including, for example, JPMorgan Chase, which became the first investment bank to do so in 2015, Barclays Bank (a Gold award holder), Airbus (a Gold award holder) and Accenture (also a Gold award holder), to name but a few.
As a Forces spouse and adviser to Forces-linked individuals, charities and organisations, Alexander Massey has experience in assisting businesses in adopting and implementing the Armed Forces Covenant with workstreams including:
- preparing tailored pledges;
- reviewing recruitment and employment policies;
- ensuring compatibility with staff handbook drafting; and
- advising generally on measures to attract and retain individuals from the Armed Forces community and pursuing recognition under the Employer Recognition Scheme.
