Unemployment among the ex-military is higher than the U.S. workforce as a whole, and particularly for those who served since September 2001—a group commonly referred to as Gulf War-era II veterans.
While the nation’s overall unemployment rate for April 2012 was recently reported at 8.1 percent, the U.S. Labor Department [6] calculated that 9.2 percent of the veterans who have served in the military since 2001 are now jobless. For veterans of all generations, the Labor Department reported that April’s jobless rate was 7.1 percent.
A recent survey by the advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America [7] concluded that 25 percent of its members cannot find a job that matches their job skills. Half of the IAVA members who were surveyed also believe that employers are reluctant to hire veterans.
“These veterans have skills and maturity a decade beyond their civilian peers,” Tom Tarantino, IAVA’s deputy policy director, recently told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s very frustrating for them to be told they have to retrain for jobs they’ve already been trained for in the military.”
Workforce Solutions [8] is a private, publicly funded, nonprofit organization that is responsible for the planning, oversight and evaluation of workforce development in Austin and Travis County.
All of the Workforce Solutions career centers have specialists trained to help veterans obtain employment and training opportunities. Workforce Solutions says veterans receive priority in a variety of no-cost employment services, including:
- Job search assistance, including job referrals
- Assistance with resumes, applications, and letters
- Career counseling
- Labor market information on emerging industries and occupations
The Labor Department announced in early May 2012 that it is making $12 million in grants available for job training or skill development programs for about 6,000 veterans. The money is to provide skill assessments, job counseling and placement assistance, and classroom or on-the-job training.
Also, the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department [9] has created a website that provides details on how veterans can use new and improved employment assistance and training, as a result of the Vow to Hire Heroes Act [10], a bipartisan bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in November 2011.
In April 2012, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes program [11] announced that it will collaborate on 50 hiring fairs for veterans and military spouses through December 2012. Though there will not be a hiring fair in Austin, they are scheduled for later this year in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso.
- To learn more about Workforce Solutions of the Capital Area [8], and the services that it provides for unemployed veterans, Click Here. [8]
- The Department of Veteran Affairs [9] has created a website that has details of the new employment and training assistance that is available through the Vow to Hire Heroes Act. Click Here [9] for details.
- Click Here [11] for the full schedule of 50 Chamber of Commerce hiring fairs [11] for veterans.