Babcock welcomes 800 early-career recruits as defence skills demands evolve

Babcock has welcomed more than 800 apprentices, graduates and undergraduates across its UK operations, as the company develops the workforce needed to support increasingly digital and autonomous defence systems.

Announced during Tomorrow’s Engineers Week and Scottish Careers Week, running from 9–13 November, the 2026 intake includes recruits entering welding, electrical and mechanical engineering, fabrication and manufacturing, alongside software engineering, data analytics, cyber security and digital engineering.

They will support programmes across the land, sea, air, cyber and space domains. Babcock said technology is also changing established trades, with scanning and modelling software, additive manufacturing and 3D printing increasingly used alongside traditional craft skills.

“Our apprentices and graduates are at the heart of our future success. Defence is evolving rapidly, and so are the skills needed to support it,” said Harry Holt, Babcock’s group chief executive.

“From highly skilled tradespeople building and maintaining critical platforms to software engineers, cyber specialists and data analysts helping unlock the next generation of capability, every role has a vital part to play.”

Skilled trades remain essential as defence adopts AI

Speaking separately to Advance during a visit to Devonport Dockyard in October, Holt emphasised that digital tools would complement the practical expertise needed to maintain complex naval platforms.

“Training is always evolving, but actually, a lot of what we’re doing is the core sort of machinist and welding skills,” he said. “That’s going to be enduring.”

Holt said Babcock would use AI and digital solutions in planning and engineering design, while work such as welding pipework and machining components deep inside a submarine continued to depend on skilled people.

That emphasis was evident at the company’s new Devonport Skills Centre, formally opened by Defence Readiness and Industry Minister Luke Pollard on 23 October.

Advance visited the facility, which has capacity to support up to 1,500 people annually, accommodating 24 trainees at a time across 48 technical competencies. It provides practical instruction for apprentices as well as opportunities for existing employees to develop and refresh their skills.

“We will have our own apprentices come through here for specific technical training, and we deliberately place this facility in the dockyard to keep it really, really close to our programmes,” Holt told Advance.

The centre’s instructors bring at least 10 years of trade experience. Planned additions include simulated submarine compartments, helping trainees develop their skills in environments that reflect the work they will undertake.

Building the workforce for future defence programmes

The recruitment announcement also follows Babcock’s Engineering the Future of Defence skills study, developed with the University of Oxford’s SKOPE research centre.

The study examines the engineering and technical workforce needed to support future defence capability, highlighting growing demand for expertise in AI, cyber security, advanced manufacturing and autonomous systems.

Babcock’s wider Skills Academy brings together training initiatives and education partnerships, including work with City College Plymouth and the University of Plymouth.

The latest intake reflects the need to develop both new technical specialisms and the established engineering expertise on which defence programmes continue to depend.

“By investing in emerging talent, we’re creating rewarding careers while ensuring the UK has the expertise needed to deliver sovereign defence capability for decades to come,” Holt said.