The competition for STEM talent has become one of the most pressing issues facing the defense contracting industry, and HX5 is not immune. Margarita Howard, sole owner, CEO and president of the Florida-based company, has watched the labor shortage intensify even as HX5 continues to grow its footprint supporting NASA and the Department of Defense.
According to National Defense Magazine, a large majority of companies within the defense industrial base report difficulty locating qualified STEM workers. ManpowerGroup’s 2024 research similarly found that most U.S. employers struggle to find the skilled talent they need, a trend that cuts across nearly every technical industry, not just defense.
Clearance Requirements Add Pressure
For HX5 and similar contractors, the shortage is compounded by the security clearance process, which can take months to complete and rules out many candidates who could otherwise fill open roles quickly. Howard has pointed to highly specialized positions requiring a rare mix of technical skill, clearance eligibility and government-specific expertise as especially hard to fill.
Meanwhile, commercial technology companies are drawing from the same pool of engineers and scientists, often with higher salaries and faster hiring timelines that defense contractors cannot always match. HX5 employs more than 1,000 people across 34 states and roughly 90 government sites, a scale that makes consistent staffing especially important to its operations.
Retention as a Counterweight
Margarita Howard has emphasized mission-driven work as a way to offset the salary gap with commercial employers. HX5’s retention record, including staff who have stayed with the company for 15 years, suggests that approach has had some success even as the broader talent shortage shows no sign of easing anytime soon.
The shortage also pushes HX5 to look beyond traditional recruiting channels. Howard has pointed to partnerships with universities and continued investment in training as ways to build a pipeline of clearance-eligible candidates rather than relying solely on hiring workers already employed elsewhere in the defense industry, an approach that takes longer to pay off but may prove more durable over time. See related link for additional information.
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