Australian to recruit UK laid off soldiers

Australian to recruit UK laid off soldiers
Published:  18 Jan at 2 PM
In order to enhance their quota of new recruits, the Defence Force ‘down under’ is going to the UK in an attempt to poach recently laid-off personnel. A delegate from the Australian military will hand pick individuals from the 5,000 members of the Royal Navy who are set to lose their jobs in the coming years under government cuts.

Those who are successful will be allowed to fast track the usual immigration process to gain citizenship in Australia. Normally citizenship is only granted after two years of permanent residency status, but the soldiers may be able to do it in as little as three months.

As the Navy in the UK lays off sailors in their thousands, their Australian counterparts plan to contact the personnel directly to inquire about if they are interested in moving abroad. Engineers are also in high demand within the country’s military as many have been lured away into the mining industry by the promise of better pay and conditions.

A spokesman for the Australian military said they have been working closely with Royal Navy, which is apparently happy for them to approach those personnel affected by job cuts. Australia has done similar recruitment drives in the UK before, as well as in New Zealand, the US and Canada.

The current plans to take on up to 1,000 UK soldiers will make this the biggest drive yet, however. The Australian military already has 16,000 personnel as well as another 2,000 in reserve.