Of all survey respondents, across the UK, just under half (46.9%) of veterans were employed or self-employed and a similar proportion were retired (46.1%).
Nearly two-thirds of working veterans worked in the private sector (62.0%), just under a third worked in the public sector (29.7%), 5.7% were working in the non-profit or non-governmental sector and the remainder did not provide their job sector.
Just over 1 in 5 working veterans (20.9%) actively looked to change their main job in the last 4 weeks, most commonly because they wanted more pay or benefits, a better work-life balance or professional development.
Across the UK, just over half of veterans (52.5%) had ever taken a job at a lower experience or skill level than their last role in the UK armed forces, most commonly because there were no other jobs available, and employers did not recognise their transferable military skills.
Over 8 in 10 veterans felt they had transferable skills from the UK armed forces (85.4%) or had used skills from the UK armed forces in a civilian role (81.4%), and just over half of veterans (53.5%) had given unpaid help to clubs, groups, charities or organisations over the last 12 months.
Qualitative analysis contained within this article gives further context about what support unemployed veterans and those who had experienced skill-related underemployment, who left the UK armed forces in the 5 years prior to the survey, felt was lacking for them.