What Happened to Military Recruiting and Retention of Enlisted Personnel in 2020 During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Résumé du livre

The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the accompanying statewide shutdowns altered traditional models of recruiting and retaining military personnel. Furthermore, both the dramatic increase in the unemployment rate and the restrictions on in-person interactions could have changed individuals' incentives to join or remain in the military. This report provides an exploratory and descriptive analysis of the changes in military enlisted recruiting and retention during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis examines changes in end strength, enlisted accessions, enlisted retention, enlistment contracts, and the quality of enlistment contracts in each month of fiscal year 2020, relative to those of previous years. The report also covers the changes in military personnel policies made during the COVID-19 pandemic.