Analysing UK Veterans’ and Reservists’ participation in the labour market

What is the issue?

Approximately 960,000 working-age Veterans and 30,000 volunteer Reservists live in Great Britain, and they participate in the labour market at broadly comparable levels to the wider civilian populations. However, the nature of their economic activity often differs: Veterans are over-represented in sectors such as manufacturing, transport, construction and public administration. Despite the high employment rate, some Veterans and Reservists also face barriers to securing meaningful work, and some Veterans and Reservists experience underemployment where their skills and experience are not being fully utilised.

Despite growing policy attention, including the 2026 Veterans’ Strategy commitment to ensuring Veteran’s skills are properly recognised and utilised, and that these skills contribute to UK national security, there are significant evidence gaps on Veterans’ and Reservists’ participation in the labour market. Research has historically focused on whether individuals are in employment, overlooking phenomena such as underemployment and positive economic contributions.

How did we help?

To address these gaps, RAND Europe was commissioned by the Office for Veterans' Affairs (OVA), via the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, to conduct a mixed-methods study combining statistical analysis of three national datasets (the Census, Annual Population Survey, and Family Resources Survey) with an international literature review and stakeholder interviews. This report presents new evidence on the employment profile and earnings of Veterans and Reservists, underemployment and the barriers and facilitators to Veterans and Reservists gaining successful employment, informing five recommendations for the OVA.

What did we find?

Veterans and Reservists have similar levels of employment and hourly wages to comparable non-Veterans. The data shows that Veterans and Reservists have similar levels of employment and hourly wages to non-Veterans with similar characteristics, indicating that Veterans and Reservists do not face systemic labour market disadvantage. However, Veterans and Reservists are concentrated in different industries and occupations to non-Veterans, making them vulnerable to economic shocks in different ways to non-Veterans.

Employers increasingly recognise that Veterans and Reservists bring valuable skills to the labour market. However, some Veterans and Reservists still face challenges in translating their skills and qualifications and having them recognised in civilian workplaces, and can face barriers to employment at the individual, employer and structural level. These barriers include poor awareness and understanding of the Armed Forces, military roles and skills among hiring managers and other decision makers, and a lack of clear policies to support Veterans and Reservists consistently.

Underemployment remains an underexplored but potentially significant issue for both Veterans and Reservists. The limited evidence suggests that underemployment may affect a substantial number of Veterans, particularly during their transition from military service to civilian life. For Reservists, underemployment is more complex and can occur in both their military and civilian roles.

Minority subgroups within the Veteran community tend to experience the disadvantages faced by their non-Veteran counterparts. Female, ethnic minority, and disabled/poor-health Veterans generally experience similar labour-market disadvantages as their non-Veteran peers with the same characteristics, rather than being either protected or uniquely disadvantaged by Veteran status alone.

What can be done?

This report makes five recommendations for the Office for Veterans’ Affairs:

• Continue providing through-life career support to Veterans and Reservists with a focus on encouraging engagement and exploring promising avenues for strengthening support.
• Continue to promote understanding of military service among employers and the broader public, focusing on gatekeepers (e.g. hiring managers) as well as senior leadership.
• Ensure policymakers and service providers consider regional differences and ensure that policies and support are inclusive to all members of the Armed Forces community.
• Monitor trends and shocks impacting the labour market and work with other stakeholders across national and local government, industry and the third sector to effectively align support provision.
• Work with stakeholders across the sector to address priority evidence gaps and ensure the continued inclusion of Veteran and Armed Forces identifiers in large-scale national surveys.