SAS signs Armed Forces Covenant in support of serving and ex-military personnel

Veterans, servicepeople and their families to receive free and discounted analytics training, flexible working as well as fair employment opportunities at SAS

SAS, the global leader in analytics, has signed a covenant with the British Armed Forces to help current and former Armed Forces personnel and their families pursue analytics training and employment opportunities. The company will provide free training and significant discounts on learning and development products to build up data and analytics skills in the Armed Forces. It will also help service leavers transfer their valuable skills to a career in analytics.

SAS has committed to support the employment of veterans by working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) and Forces Families Jobs (FFJ) to develop tailored employment pathways for service leavers. It guarantees a job interview for any veteran that meets the minimum role criteria. SAS will also provide new-hire employees with coaching and mentoring to help them adjust to their new role. The spouses and partners of current and ex-servicepeople will be given the same opportunities.

SAS has also updated its HR policies to ensure veterans and servicepeople are treated fairly and with understanding at the company. It offers flexible leave and working to service personnel and spouses to allow for deployments. Reservists are entitled to an additional 10 days’ paid leave for their training obligations. Across the organisation, all SAS UK employees are allowed flexible working and paid leave for volunteering activities in support of local cadet units. HR teams will be given training to ensure they are fully compliant with the Covenant and can properly support veterans and servicepeople during the recruitment process and their time at SAS.

The Covenant was signed at a virtual meeting between SAS UK & Ireland’s Vice President & Country Manager, Roderick Crawford, and Major General Tom Copinger-Symes CBE, Director Military Digitisation at the Ministry of Defence.  

Roderick Crawford said: “This covenant is in recognition of all the good that those in the Armed Forces, past and present, have done for us. It is an honour and privilege to help our defence forces develop the data skills needed to keep the country safe, and ensuring those in service and veterans are fairly treated by the society they protect and have access to promising career opportunities during and after their service. As an organisation, we recognise the unique skills and expertise that those in the services can bring to analytics. We’re proud to support them in achieving their full potential.”

Major General Tom Copinger-Symes commented: “We consider our people to be our most important assets and it’s here where we are focussing our investment in training and development. We’re immensely grateful to SAS for this public pledge of support and look forward to many years of cooperative partnership. It is our symbiotic relationship with partners and suppliers that is helping us to shape digitalisation and transformation across the entire armed services.”

The Covenant is the next stage in SAS’ long-running programme of support for the Armed Forces. The company has a strong working relationship with the Ministry of Defence and worked closely with Army Headquarters to ensure the Covenant fully met the needs of those in the services. SAS is actively working towards achieving silver status in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme and expects to achieve accreditation later this year.

“The Army taught me many things, and SAS has mirrored that for me,” said Chris Dunk, Senior Principal Operations Specialist at SAS UK & Ireland. “Coming from the Service, I knew I had valuable skills and experience that could make a real difference in civilian life. SAS has helped me to grow those abilities, and I’m very pleased to see the same opportunities being made available to others in the Armed Forces.”  

Find out more about how we can help veterans, service members, and their spouses successfully transition into new careers.