Shit, they probably have trouble hiring & retaining people under 40, thanks to the clearance requirement. Big overlap between the millennial-and-younger tech crowd and folks who are fairly big fans of federally-illegal drugs. At least cannabis, if nothing else.
Not in my experience. There's plenty of people under 40 in the defense industry. Every big defense contractor has internship programs to feed people in fresh out of university. And once you're in, it can be difficult to get out, since the pay is above average for the regions (and the benefits are glorious), but the workload is so light. It's not unusual to be on a project that's going nowhere for four months, so you get to come in and do busy work.
Hiring is tough right now, but it's tough for everyone. But that has lead to a huge increase in wages. Every one of my friends in the industry has seen promotions and 40% pay raises.
