The military is running out of teenagers to recruit — and old-school methods to reach them are failing
Matt Rota for BI Military recruiting is on the upswing, but many recruiters say it's never been harder to get young people interested in service. Phone lists of numbers that once rang a family landline now dead-end at parents' cellphones. School access can vary from one street to the next. And while a direct message might be the fastest way to reach an overly online 17-year-old, finding the right social media handle can feel like chasing ghosts. The hunt has become so grueling that the time it takes to meet quotas of up to two recruits a month is pushing some recruiters into burnout territory. These are some of the frustrations Business Insider heard while speaking to nearly four dozen Marine recruiters, leaders, and other officials for a four-part series on recruiter welfare. The hunt for solutions is on, and legislation and use of artificial intelligence could be on the horizon. The Pentagon is facing steep declines in young Americans' propensity and fitness to ...
