The Next Mission: Inequality and Service-to-Civilian Career Transition Outcomes among 50+ Military Leavers

We examine the Service-to-Civilian career transition for Military leavers aged 50 and above (50+). The exit age of our sampled group means that it is more likely that they hold senior-ranked positions across both Officer and Soldier career pathways. Despite both groups having access to similar transition opportunities and resources, we find that their work-lives are underpinned with economic, social, and structural inequality. This inequality has substantive effects on their employment transition outcomes. Our focus group data suggest that Soldiers have unequal access to formal (e.g., Career Transition Partnership programmes) and informal (e.g., social networks) transition support resources compared to Officers. Employing a structural equation modelling approach to analyse 183 survey responses, we found that Soldiers are more likely to apply for, and subsequently take, civilian work that is below their skills level. In turn, Soldiers are significantly less satisfied with their civilian work than Officers.