Many veterans face a journey of transition from military service into civilian life—a shift that, after years in a close-knit community, can feel isolating and exacerbate veteran loneliness.
The tech industry, however, offers a fresh path forward of opportunities. Veterans bring invaluable skills in leadership, resilience, and problem-solving that are highly valued across tech roles.
According to the Royal British Legion, there is estimated 120,000 working-age veterans who are unemployed in the UK.
Leaving the services doesn’t mean starting again, it means starting with experience and the transferrable skills that hold huge value in the workplace.
Life Beyond the Armed Forces
For many veterans, leaving the Armed Forces marks a major transition that comes with a range of new challenges and opportunities. Veterans may struggle with loneliness and a loss of purpose. Without the sense of community, structure, and shared mission that military life provides, civilian life can feel isolating.
A report by BBC highlighted how military veterans have opened up about the low points they hit after leaving the forces, and struggled to cope with civilian life.
Finding suitable employment after a successful military career is often a big challenge. The employment gap is one of the primary challenges facing veterans, as they are reportedly twice as likely to be unemployed compared to civilians, according to the Royal British Legion.
Reducing veteran unemployment benefits both the UK economy and veterans themselves. Being employed is closely linked to better physical and mental health, while unemployment often leads to poorer health outcomes, including higher rates of illness, and mental distress.
The high unemployment rate for veterans may be partly attributed to the difficulty they encounter translating their skills into certain roles.
However, veterans bring invaluable skills like leadership, problem-solving, and resilience, which transfer exceptionally well into the technology sector.
How Veteran Skills Can Be Transferred to the Tech World
The military prepares individuals to handle high-pressure situations, manage complex tasks, and adapt well to different environments. These are all qualities that are highly required in fields like software engineering, IT operations, and cybersecurity.
In fact, many roles within IT, particularly those that prioritise organisation and coordination, directly benefit from the skills veterans have picked up during service.
Veterans are ideally placed to deal with the Volatility, Uncertainty Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA) the commercial world values and no more so than in Change, PM and Scrum Master roles. Agile and Scrum methodologies in particular play into the skill set acquired in the forces veterans just do not know they have the background and experience to excel in these roles.
This involves responsibilities veterans may find familiar, such as handling team wellness, running events, and managing daily workflows, all while solving new challenges on a day-to-day basis.
Beyond the Scrum Master role, veterans have proven success across the tech sector. Many former service members have transitioned into software engineering, data analytics, and cybersecurity roles, demonstrating the transferability of skills developed in non-technical, high-pressure environments.
From structured problem-solving to team facilitation, veterans are suited to thrive in tech, bringing a disciplined, mission-driven mindset into the workforce. For veterans considering tech, the key takeaway is simple, with the right training and openness to learning, the skills they already possess set them up to succeed within this sector.
An Ever-Growing Tech Community
The tech industry offers veterans a renewed sense of community for veterans, combining a collaborative culture with a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
For many veterans, transitioning to other careers can feel like a major shift, especially after years of relying on a close-knit network. Tech provides an environment where veterans can once again connect with others, build new relationships, and find purpose in impactful work.
Technology upskilling and reskilling schemes, such as FDM’s Ex-Forces Programme, aim to build a community for veterans. It is important to understand the challenges veterans face in career transitions, particularly the need for a supportive network that aligns with their values.
The Ex-Forces Programme offers comprehensive training and a pathway into roles, such as project management, business analysis, and software development, fields that resonate well with the structure, teamwork, and mission-driven nature veterans are accustomed to.
These programmes allow veterans to gain access to a community of like-minded professionals who have gone through similar transitions. Therefore, they’re able to join a network that understands their background and strengths, enabling them to thrive in tech while providing valuable support to one another. Veterans are not only welcomed into this new environment—they are given the tools, network, and mentorship to excel and find renewed purpose in their work.
Successful transitions into stable civilian jobs help veterans adjust, providing stability, confidence, and financial security, which can reduce the challenges of moving back into civilian life and society.
Stewart Sharman
Stewart Sharman MBE retired from the British Army in Dec 2013 after nearly 30 years in the Royal Signals. As the Global Head of FDM’s ex-forces initiative, Stewart has overseen the setting up and running of the programme since January 2014 across the UK, US, Canada and Australia. The programme has recruited, trained and placed over 1200 ex-services and blue light personnel as FDM Consultants across the FDM client base.
