Why GenZ won't join the Military

the military has a problem it can't find  enough humans to appeal to gen Z the Army   is pumping out Tick-Tock style get ready with  me videos like this I'm gonna show you my day   my big scene as well as discuss some of the  updated Army grooming standards but it's   hardly working I mean only 800 people saw that  video on go Army's YouTube channel the US Army   had its most difficult recruiting year since it  ended the draft in 1973. the U.S military is even   going to Esports and Mom influencers trying to  convince you to join influencers are not telling   them to go to the military moms dads uncles  coaches pastors do not see it as a good choice   but what does all of this mean for the world's  most powerful country the military fell short of   its recruitment goals by over 60 000 recruits in  2022. this is the first time the military missed   its recruitment goals in more than a decade  leaving the Army Navy and Air Force roughly 30   000 recruits short of their goals and just look at  these numbers the number of people who have joined   the military each year has declined by more than  20 percent since 2010. the average age of a new   recruit is 20 years old it used to be 18 just a  few years ago and the military is having a harder   time recruiting people from certain demographics  like women and minorities but why are people not   wanting to join the military anymore well here are  four reasons the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have   taken a toll on the military's reputation seat  many people are hesitant to join an institution   that has been involved in so much conflict and  made people wonder what was the point of that   second there didn't used to be so many options for  young people today you can be a software engineer   in your basement a YouTuber a graphic designer  but a few decades ago you were limited to the jobs   that were available in your physical Community  third the job market is very strong right now   in the U.S the unemployment rate is low there are  many good paying jobs available in the civilian   sector and that means the idea of joining the  military is less appealing I mean so many people   right now want to work from home instead of an  office so how many people will actually want to   work long hours in physical conditions and maybe  even be deployed out of the country for a cause   they may or may not believe and number four the  military is no longer seen as a guaranteed ticket   to a job and a stable future like it might have  been seen just a few decades ago and many people   are now more aware of the dangers and challenges  of military service but hold on the biggest   culprit of all of this may actually ironically be  veterans see 80 of all new recruits have a family   member who have served in the military but now  many veterans are telling their kids or grandkids   not to join anymore I did because my father had  served in the second world war in the Army in New   Guinea in the Philippines and I thought it was  my obligation to serve some veterans are saying   and I quote I saw too many of my friends die in  Iraq and Afghanistan I don't want my kids to go   through that the military is not what it used to  be it's become more politicized and I don't want   my kids to be involved in any potential conflicts  there are other ways to serve your country without   joining the military you can volunteer your time  to help others you can donate to Charities or you   can get involved in politics your biggest source  of recruits used to come join you proudly because   their family served and now many of those same  people don't even want to join anymore you can   see how this is turning into a massive problem see  the military is the backbone of the U.S national   security it needs a strong pool of recruits to  maintain its Readiness if the military can't   recruit enough people it might not be able to  meet its missions so in order to deal with this   problem the U.S military is kind of lowering its  bar the military is now relying on older recruits   and recruits with lower test scores it's also  offering higher bonuses and incentives to attract   more recruits and even reducing its training  standards the government is taking drastic steps   to address its recruiting problem the Pentagon  is now increasing its advertising budget and   it's offering up to fifty thousand dollars just  in bonuses if you join the government is also   working hard to improve its image to appeal to  more women and minorities but it remains to be   seen if those efforts will be effective see the  recruiting problem is a massive one and there's   no easy solution here but fold up does all of  this really matter since now things are shifting   I mean technology is becoming such a big part  of warfare do we really need so many humans on   the ground I mean one day won't we just deploy  humanoid robot well yes technology is playing   an increasingly important role in war you have  drones and robots and other high-tech weapons   that are more and more common which are reducing  the need for human soldiers but humans are still   essential to Warfare see humans are needed to  make decisions to operate the technology and to   provide support to the troop there are still  types of warfare that require human soldiers   like counter Insurgency operations so yes it's  true technology is playing a more important role   in Warfare but humans are still essential to the  military and the US military needs a strong pool   of recruits to maintain its Readiness but this is  not just an American problem other countries are   having a hard time to get enough young people to  want to join their militaries so what are other   countries doing Israel has compulsory military  service for all men and women between the ages   of 18 to 21. this ensures that the military has  enough number of recruits even though there is   not a lot of interest in military service among  young Israelis then there's South Korea South   Korea has a volunteer military but the government  offers Financial incentives to people who join and   these incentives are pretty good they include  free college tuition and a guaranteed job   after military service and then there's Sweden  Sweden has a volunteer military as well but the   government has been struggling to recruit enough  people so as a response the government is making   it easier than ever to join the military while  also increasing the pay and benefits for military   personnel both President Biden and former  president Trump have expressed concern about   the U.S military's recruiting troubles Biden is  saying that the military needs to do a better job   of recruiting young people and he has pledged to  increase the military's advertising budget Trump   has also said that the military needs to do a  better job of recruiting and he has proposed a   number of changes to the military's recruiting  policies but what happens if the U.S can't fix   this well for one the military could be less  effective the military will have to rely more   on technology to compensate for the lack of  humans but this could lead to problems since   technology can be unreliable and vulnerable  to attacks another thing that can happen is   the military will just be more expensive see  the military will have to spend more money   on technology to compensate for the lack of human  soldiers this could lead to budget problems since   the military already spends a significant amount  of money on technology and finally the military   will become less diverse see already it's faced  with the challenges of not being able to recruit   enough women and minorities and if there are  fewer humans in the military it will become   even more difficult to recruit these groups which  could ultimately have a negative impact on the   military's Effectiveness because it would be less  represented of the population that it's supposed   to defend but I want to know what do you think  what should the U.S military be doing to recruit   young people from joining instead of wanting to  be YouTubers and do you see this as a problem   what is the future of the world's most powerful  military look like let me know your comments   below while you're at it check out more of my  videos like this and don't forget to subscribe

Channel: Uptin

Views: 224,133

Keywords: uptin, cnbc, wsj, bloomberg, business insider, why is the military struggling to recruit, why is the military so strict, is the us military the strongest, is the us military preparing for war, is the us military stronger than china, is the army worth it, is the army right for me, is the army a good choice, is the army getting soft, johnny harris, johnny harris military bases, will america remain a superpower, will america collapse like rome, will america default, us navy, china

Id: 2PBDr7vhx6U

Length: 7min 44sec (464 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 14 2023