Arms factories throughout Europe are lacking qualified personnel amid a boost in rearmament. Indeed, factories have the capabilities to increase their production—if more employees were available.
The rush in demand has been provoked by the US$896 billion "Readiness 2030" plan the European Commission unveiled in March 2025 to boost Europe’s building of military capacities amid growing international tensions. The plan is believed to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the sector. However, currently there is a shortage of qualified personnel and firms cannot produce at full capacity.
Defense factories are desperate to find appropriate staff, and they are job hunting from other sectors by offering incentives or bonuses and are even recruiting from schools. For example, Franco-German defense firm KNDS has expanded its facilities and is augmenting hiring by 50%, while Czech PBS Group started its own training center.
The arms sector is not the only one benefiting from a war that has caused thousands of deaths and injuries. Indeed, there are many nations that have benefited financially from the support of either Russia or Ukraine due to today’s interconnected global economy.
In this gallery, we explore how several nations have profited from the Russia-Ukraine war. Click on for more.