Capita, Northrop Grumman, Atos, Leonardo UK, Fujitsu and Leidos are the first companies to join 15,000 Futures, signalling their intention to fill a proportion of their digital vacancies with former servicemen and women, along with their families.

The initiative was started by workforce technology platform WithYouWithMe, a social impact firm that supports armed forces veterans and their partners, as well as other marginalised sections of society, by delivering innovative aptitude testing and digital skills training for high demand tech careers. Capita is in partnership with WithYouWithMe.

Each year, 15,000 people leave the UK military and return to civilian life, but can struggle to find meaningful employment. Meanwhile, there is a growing global digital skills gap that veterans and their families are able to fill by undertaking the free digital skills training that WithYouWithMe offer on their platform.

Since it was founded, WithYouWithMe has seen more than 75,000 individuals from around the world, including refugees and neurodivergent individuals, join their platform.
 
Tom Moore, a former Australian platoon commander and founder and CEO of WithYouWithMe, said: “We are delighted to have these first six companies join the 15,000 Futures initiative. The response from businesses across the UK has been overwhelming and we are confident that, with the significant commitment they have made, thousands of military veterans will have a more fulfilling career once their time in the military comes to an end.”

WithYouWithMe’s team of UK advisers, who also support the 15,000 Futures initiative, include former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Sir James Everard, and Rear Admiral Jim Macleod, who was most recently the assistant chief of defence staff personnel capability.

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