The Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey 2019, AFCAS, shares the latest views and experiences of service personnel, Regular and Reserves.
AFCAS was introduced in 2007 for the Regular Armed Forces personnel, and the sister survey ReCas in 2015 for Reservists. In that time, AFCAS data has been used by the Ministry of Defence to inform the development and evaluation of personnel policies including: remuneration, accommodation, flexible working, career management and training.
The latest survey was distributed to a sample of 28,814 trained UK Regular Armed Forces personnel and 16,700 reservists. Overall, 17,800 responses were received.
The latest ReCas shows little change since 2018, and there have been no overall decreases in satisfaction to any of the survey questions since 2018 or compared to 2015.
The ReCas survey asks Reservists if they feel that their employer supports and values their Reserve service. Reservists are also asked to report on whether they’re using their civilian skills in the Reserves, and vice versa.
The Ministry of Defence also wants to know if reservists feel they have been advantaged in a civilian job this year as a result of their Reserve service, and if they agree that being a reservist is good for their civilian career.
The full report is available here on Gov.uk for Reserves and here for Regulars.
Insights into the demographics of Reservists include:
- 33% of reservists have been a member of a Service Cadet Force.
- 82% of reservists are employed (either full-time, part-time, or self-employed).
The RFCA staff and its members are dedicated to the well-being of the Reserves and Cadets, and are well-informed on the attitudes of Reservists and employers in their area. With this knowledge, we are able to advise businesses and organisations on how to nurture a mutually beneficial relationship with Defence and the Defence community.