The latest Defence Industry Insights data provides insight on what drives worker satisfaction in defence industry. Employers can use this data to help guide their employee value proposition, to attract the best workers available, and to retain the workforce they already have.
Kinexus have surveyed worker satisfaction for many years, and reliably the top three factors that influence this are:
Interesting work
Work life balance
Remuneration
The results of the 2025 survey are represented in the graph below:
This graph presents the respondents’ opinion when asked, ‘What has the most impact on your job satisfaction?’ Respondents were asked to select their top five. The percentages show the proportion of respondents who feel the factors contribute most to their job satisfaction.
Remuneration
Remuneration has scored between 61 and 66% since 2022. Perhaps as a nod to the cost-of-living crisis, respondents that selected remuneration in their top 5 have increased from 53% in 2020 to 65% in the most recent survey in January 2025.
So, whilst not necessarily the most important factor, remuneration remains very important to defence industry workers.
The low-hanging fruit
From a worker satisfaction point of view, interesting work, work life balance and remuneration make up the must-have trifecta.
Having consistently been the top three factors, in order to offer a robust employee value proposition these must be taken into consideration.
Thinking outside the box
Outside of these 3, there are other factors employers could consider.
Offering development opportunities was becoming steadily less important since 2019, but in the last two surveys has picked up again. In 2025, 35% of respondents said development opportunities were in their top 5 factors driving job satisfaction.
Your manager has become steadily more important since 2019, when just 36% listed it in their top 5. Now, 44% of respondents do.
Culture is also becoming steadily more important. This factor is up 6 percentage points since 2019; now 51% list it in their top 5.
Factors becoming less important
Organisation size, corporate social responsibility and incentives/benefits remain proportionally less important to the population at large.
Location has also become less important over the years, scoring 48% in 2019 but just 40% in January 2025.
In conclusion
To attract and retain the best workers, employers need to offer a holistic employee value proposition. Paying market rates is vital, all the while considering skill and experience level and skill set availability. To create the strongest proposition, interesting work should be available, alongside a pragmatic approach to work life balance.
For those employers looking to strand out from their competitors, factors including development opportunities, culture and management could be taken into consideration.
For more information on the data provided, reach out to Kinexus directly by emailing enquiries@kinexus.com.au.
