Rheinmetall Turns to Former Auto Workers to Fuel Hiring Spree

Germany’s largest arms manufacturer, Rheinmetall, expects its sales will be five times as much as they were last year by the end of the decade. A big factor underpinning its confidence—it is being flooded by job applications.

The company is now looking to draw from a pool of workers laid off by the car industry and other big employers to fill the roles needed for its expansion plans, its head of human resources operations said.

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European weapons makers are scrambling to ramp up production quickly to meet the continent’s growing demand for ammunition, tanks, fighter jets and other pieces of military equipment as nations push to bolster their own arsenals while continuing to supply Ukraine with defense gear to fight Russia.

A shift in how job seekers see Rheinmetall—a key supplier of military equipment to Ukraine—made it an attractive employer in Germany, the company’s head of global human resources operations, Monica Wertheim, said in an interview.

For over 3,000 jobs advertised in Germany in the first half of 2025, Rheinmetall received 120,000 applications, Wertheim said.

Rheinmetall received 257,000 resumes globally last year, up from 180,000 in 2023, according to company data. It received 165,000 applications in the first half of this year, and expects to get more than 275,000 for the year as a whole.

The company aims to advertise about 8,000 jobs globally this year, or 8% more than last year, with about half of those being newly created positions. It is looking for electrical and mechanical engineers, software developers and project managers, as well as skilled blue-collar workers such as machine and plant operators, welding technicians and aircraft mechanics.

The war in Ukraine has boosted the popularity of the defense industry in Germany, in contrast with previous decades when some people questioned the need to invest in the military, Wertheim said. This coincided with job cuts in other sectors that had historically been large employers, such as the auto industry, she added.

“I see a positive wave in the direction of the defense industry, mainly because of reputation, because of the sense of purpose of the defense industry in Germany,” Wertheim said. “The change of mindset is tremendous, especially over the last two to three years.”

Rheinmetall’s chief executive, Armin Papperger, boasted about its hiring credentials as he told investors at an event last week that the company would raise its 2030 sales target to 50 billion euros ($57.64 billion), from between 40 billion and 50 billion euros previously. Rheinmetall’s sales amounted to 9.8 billion euros last year.

“We are very attractive at the moment,” Papperger said. “This is the biggest advantage that we have.”

With plans to expand into air, naval and space from its traditional foothold in land defense and ammunition, Rheinmetall is looking to hire more and faster.

The company aims to increase its global staff to 40,000 by 2027, which compares with 30,640 as of June 30. If the goal is achieved, Rheinmetall will have added more employees over the next two and a half years than it did over the past decade. The company employed about 20,200 people at the end of 2014.

Companies across sectors, including Rheinmetall, list potential labor shortages as a risk factor in their annual reports. But Rheinmetall representatives say the company isn’t currently having problems finding the skills it needs on the job market.

Write to Cristina Gallardo at [email protected]

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