A growing number of young Germans are rethinking jobs in the defense business in a significant change for a nation that has long been associated with post-war peace, driven by the continuing conflict in Ukraine and broader global volatility. German arms manufacturers, who have traditionally not attended public recruitment events, took part for the first time in a job fair at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT ), a sign of the tides changing. Students are influencing the change, starting with 25-year-old engineering student Mika Scheid. According to Scheid, who joined the military forces as a military and then hopes to work in defense equipment manufacturing, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a “personal moving place.” He said,” People are beginning to understand that the German armed forces ‘ current focus is on defending the nation and Nato.” Rheinmetall pulled out of the good despite student protests, but there is now evidence that involvement in the arms industry is growing. Young professionals are also being influenced by ambiguity surrounding the US security guarantees in Europe and stagnant economic growth. Europeans have changed their way of seeing things because of the social discourse we have had since 2022, according to Eva Brueckner of Heinrich and Coll, a recruitment company that works in the defense sector. Ethics concerns about the industry have decreased since Russia’s full-scale conquest of Ukraine three years ago, she said. Companies are providing benefits to new hires, such as gym memberships and transfer assistance. Significant arms producer Diehl is actually providing scholarships to students in an effort to long-term recruit them. At the honest, 19-year-old engineering student Nicole Haenelt was looking for an internship with Thyssenkrupp’s underwater section. Although his parents were pacifist, he said,” If the world were more calm, I would probably also appear in another places.”
Around 600,000 people work in the Western defense industry, and it is projected to grow, particularly under Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz’s pledge to boost military spending. In response to job losses in other industries, businesses like Rheinmetall have just absorbed employees from a struggling automaker Continental and are starting to stabilize the broader economy. However, it’s difficult to find skill. Individuals who don’t come from this history may have trouble integrating because the market is extremely traditional, according to Brueckner. Some individuals continue to suffer from the shame. Niklas, a student studying computer science, stated that he was looking for a career with “meaning,” preferably in the fields of health or sustainability. the wings sector? ” Never”, he said.
