The rapid growth of the Swedish defence market is driving up the demand for labour. According to a new report from the Association of Swedish Defence and Security Industry (Säkerhets- och försvarsföretagen, SOFF), the industry may need to recruit around 500 new employees per month over the coming years.
According to SOFF, member companies' combined turnover increased from 99.7 billion Swedish kronor in 2024 to around 124 billion Swedish kronor in 2025. During the same period, the number of full-time equivalent employees rose from 28,416 to approximately 33,650, an increase of just over 5,200 in one year.
When replacement recruitment, retirements, internal mobility and continued expansion are also factored in, SOFF estimates that recruitment pressure could amount to around 500 new employees per month. If growth continues in line with the assessments made in the report, member companies could approach 50,000 employees and 200 billion Swedish kronor in turnover by 2030. According to the report, that would mean around 16,000 additional people in or close to defence companies within a few years.
"The growth of defence companies is fundamentally positive for Sweden. It is about jobs, technology, production and strengthened defence capability. But growth requires employees. Skills supply is therefore not just an HR issue, but a question of defence capability," says Robert Limmergård, Secretary General of SOFF, in the organisation's press release.
SOFF's member survey also shows that companies see a shortage of skills as an obstacle to continued expansion. 59.1 per cent cite a lack of technical specialist expertise as one of the biggest challenges in recruiting key skills, while 54.5 per cent point to high competition for labour. At the same time, 77.3 per cent cite increased demand as one of the biggest opportunities over the next five years.
According to the report, the need extends to considerably more occupational groups than engineers. Recurring skills requirements include systems engineers, software developers and test engineers, as well as assemblers, welders, machine operators, quality specialists, project managers and specialists in security protection and export control. Of the more than 33,600 full-time equivalent employees in member companies, 44.5 per cent have an engineering education and 46.5 per cent have a higher education degree.
The report also identifies security vetting as a factor in recruitment. 45.5 per cent of responding companies state that such processes affect recruitment to a high degree, and 40.9 per cent to some extent. Taken together, this corresponds to 86.4 per cent of the companies in the survey.
SOFF also highlights military environmental knowledge as a sought-after skill. According to the report, experience from, for example, conscription, the Home Guard (Hemvärnet) or voluntary defence organisations can provide an understanding of the user and the conditions in which the systems are to function.
"Anyone who wants to become more attractive to defence companies can think in two directions: add technical skills and add defence environment experience. Technical understanding strengthens almost all roles, even for those who are lawyers, economists or project managers. At the same time, experience from conscription, the Home Guard or voluntary defence organisations provides important understanding of the user and the environment in which the technology is to function," says Robert Limmergård.