Defense contractors face a workforce turning point as Generation Z enters careers that once favored slow, methodical advancement. Margarita Howard, sole owner, CEO and president of HX5, a service-disabled veteran and women-owned company, has watched that shift up close and adjusted her hiring approach in response.
HX5, based in Florida, supports NASA and the Department of Defense with STEM-focused federal services across 34 states and 90 government sites, employing more than 1,000 people. That scale means Margarita Howard’s decisions about recruiting ripple through a wide swath of the defense industrial base, affecting how the company competes for scarce technical talent nationwide.
Generation Shift
Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z will make up roughly 30% of the workforce by 2030, according to research from Johns Hopkins University. Their entry coincides with fierce competition for STEM talent capable of clearing federal security screening, a process that can stretch on for months.
“We’re excited about Gen Z,” Howard said, describing the company’s effort to adapt to their expectations. She pointed to hybrid scheduling as one concession HX5 has made without loosening security protocols, calling flexibility a tool rather than a compromise.
Balancing Flexibility and Security
Howard’s team has also adopted messaging and project management platforms meant to feel familiar to digital natives, while keeping the deliberate pace that federal contracting requires. Still, Margarita Howard insists that direct government experience carries more weight than general commercial background when HX5 fills open roles, a standard she is not willing to lower even as demand for STEM workers intensifies across the country. Candidates who have already supported NASA or defense programs, she says, understand the mission in ways commercial hires often do not.
Howard also points to writing skill as an underrated part of the hiring equation, since HX5 depends on well-crafted proposals to win new government work. Combining technical expertise with clear communication, she says, has become part of what she looks for as Gen Z applicants move through HX5’s recruiting pipeline alongside more seasoned candidates from the broader federal contracting community. Refer to this article, for related information.
Find more information about HX5 on https://www.f6s.com/member/margarita-howard
