Generational Change in Recruitment

The Impact of War’s Nature on Recruitment

Abstract

The primary task of organizations struggling with workforce shortages in our time is to develop an effective recruitment policy. An integral aspect of the modernization process of the Hungarian Defense Forces is adapting to the changes in both external and internal environmental cultures. The previously established and applied organizational processes and procedures, including the redesign of succession planning, may lead to the reconsideration of traditional recruitment strategies characteristic of highly hierarchical organizations. Cadets studying in the sectoral vocational training of national defense theoretically meet this criterion and may, in the long term, be capable of providing the human resources required by the armed forces. During their training, in addition to acquiring professions closely related to the military vocation, they can also gain highly specialized and often extremely cost-intensive skills within the framework of patriotic and national defense education. In their final year, they have the opportunity to undertake reserve military service and complete basic training. Their pursuit of further military education appears to be less successful. I assume that the asymmetric and hybrid nature of ongoing wars and armed conflicts undermines the traditional, romanticized image of national armed forces, which is built on the heroism and military glory of conventional wars. At the same time, their generation's characteristic openness to technology, flexible thinking, and the appealing vision of a renewed, modern armed force – along with the diminishing role of human involvement – could reshape their perception of the military. As the myth of the heroic warrior fades, it may pave the way for the young, tech-savvy generation to engage with military careers. Traditional recruitment, which offers conventional service, must also be renewed – just as the strategic principles of warfare are evolving – despite the fact that the romance of such conflicts has faded but not entirely disappeared.