"Just think about the skills veterans acquire at a very young age: The leadership they've earned, the technology they've mastered, the ability to adapt to changing circumstance that you can't learn in the classroom," said President Barack Obama on Monday, in a White House Rose Garden announcement regarding new initiatives intended to reduce unemployment among military veterans.
"This is exactly the kind of leadership and responsibility every American business should be competing to attract."
The president is absolutely right – the skills and experiences our service members learned in the military are assets that can benefit the civilian job market in a variety of ways. But still, the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans so far in 2011 sits at an unacceptable 12.1%. This is much too high, even in this job market.
This isn't just a business concern — combating veteran unemployment is our civic duty and requires the attention and dedication of the private sector, government and nonprofits working together. Anything else would be a violation of the social contract members of the all-volunteer force enter into when they enlist.
We've seen progress in all sectors, but we still have a long way to go.
Though it's been a rocky year on Capitol Hill, Congress is poised to pass its first jobs bill of the year with the VOW To Hire Heroes Act. This legislation will help train veterans for the civilian marketplace and push businesses to hire vets with incentives like tax credits. It's a win-win for vets and business owners alike, and a great step in the right direction.
Next, forward-looking companies like Southwest Airlines and Bechtel Corporation are stepping out to correct misperceptions of modern veterans. They see them as hard-working, technologically savvy leaders, not damaged goods. Additionally, several leading corporations have formed their own veteran initiatives, like Citi and JPMorgan Chase. Confusion over how to translate military skills into descriptions civilian employers understand is also part of the problem of veteran unemployment, and these companies are setting a trend by committing to developing best practices for hiring new veterans, strengthening their ranks for decades to come and cultivating their leaders of tomorrow.
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