Armed forces and emergency services : Overview

The industry in a nutshell

The armed forces and emergency services sectors continue to include some of the largest employers within the UK job market, despite cuts in public sector jobs. They recruit a wide variety of graduates each year.

Armed forces recruitment has expanded over the last three years although cuts in the defence budget in 2010 look likely to reverse that trend. There is however continued demand for skilled personnel, particularly in skill shortage areas such as medical services, logistics and engineering.

Recruitment in the emergency services varies according to individual services' needs. There are a wide range of roles that cover most academic disciplines.

What kind of work can I do?

The armed forces of the United Kingdom include the Army, the Royal Navy (which includes the Royal Marines) and the Royal Air Force (RAF). Their prime task is to defend Britain, Britain's interests and Britain's dependencies.

There are over 75 job types represented in the forces, including:

• air crew and air traffic control;
• combat;
• engineering - including civil, marine, electrical and mechanical;
• HR, legal and finance - including administration, solicitors, chaplains, teachers and trainers;
• intelligence, IT and communications;
• logistics and support - including stores, catering and military police;
• medical - including doctors, dentists, nurses, biomedical scientists, physiotherapists, environmental health officers;
• music and ceremonial.

The emergency services also cover a wide range of careers. Roles can be found in:

• police force - including police officer, police community support officer and scenes of crime officer;
• ambulance service - including ambulance technician, paramedic and emergency care practitioner;
• fire and rescue service - including firefighter;
• coastguard.

Roles are also available in the emergency services in areas such as health and safety, HR, administration, finance, media and public relations.

Emergency planning is a growing sub-sector of emergency services. Emergency planners liaise with all services and co-ordinate their actions in the event of an emergency.

Lean management/project management are also becoming increasingly large areas of work as the economic climate is having a large impact across the public sector.

What’s it like working in the industry?

• Working conditions vary across the sector. You may work in a range of settings - outdoors, onboard a ship, or in a hospital, office, laboratory or warehouse.
• Depending on the role, working in this sector may involve long hours in challenging and often stressful and dangerous environments.
• In the armed forces, job rotation and relocation is expected every two to three years.
• More women are serving in a greater variety of posts than ever before. Over 70% of forces jobs are now open to women and that is set to increase according to the Ministry of Defence.
• The numbers of female and black and minority ethnic (BME) firefighters are increasing.
• Numbers of minority ethnic personnel in the police have increased from 2009 to 2010, according to the Home Office.

How big is this industry?

• Most recent figures from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) show that there are about 175,000 fully trained personnel in the armed forces.
• There are about 145,000 police officers in the UK, according to the Home Office.
• Fire and rescue services employ around 50,000 people nationally.
• Figures from 2010 for NHS Ambulance Trusts in England and Wales show that there are about 15,000 qualified ambulance staff, including paramedics and ambulance technicians.

Where can I work?

There are wide ranging opportunities throughout the UK. There are also numerous opportunities abroad, in particular for the armed forces, who are deployed in various countries around the world.