Thales to recruit more than 9,000 employees in 2026

The planned hiring follows the recruitment of 8,800 employees in 2025, which exceeded the company’s initial target of 8,000. Over the past five years, Thales says that it has recruited at least 8,000 people annually to support growth across its defence, aerospace, and cybersecurity and digital businesses, a press release reads.

For 2026, nearly 3,300 of the new positions will be based in France. The company also plans to hire 800 employees in the UK, 630 in North America, 530 in Australia, 520 in the Netherlands, 450 in India, 300 in Germany, 240 in Romania, 200 in Singapore and 140 in Poland.

Approximately 40% of new hires will be assigned to engineering roles, including software and systems engineering, cybersecurity, AI and data. Around 25% will be recruited for industrial positions such as technicians, operators and engineers.

In addition to external recruitment, Thales expects around 3,500 employees to move internally between roles, business units or geographies in 2026.