A quiet (but rather satisfying), success story has been occurring in America over the past few years.
US veterans – personnel who have served our nation bravely (but who have historically faced difficulty finding employment after returning to normal life), are now being employed in record numbers.
Latest figures suggest that last month, the unemployment rate of the nation’s 17.9 million veterans was 3.0% – a whole percentage point better than the unemployment rate for non-veterans (which currently stands at 4.1%).
In September, veteran unemployment was even lower still – at just 2.8% – and these figures represent a remarkable turnaround in perceptions of those who come from the ‘forces’.
In the 1980s, unemployment amongst Vietnam-era veterans was more than double what it is today – 6% – and even as recently as 2011, the unemployment rate of young military veterans (those defined as being aged 18-24), was a whopping 29%. Between 2000-2008 the veteran youth unemployment rate was 10.7% compared to 8% amongst non-veteran youth.
Overall, between 2000-2011, young veterans were on average 3.4 percentage points more likely to be unemployed than younger non-veterans. Using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the difference between veteran and non-veteran youth unemployment increased substantially between 2008-2011.
So what explains this sudden change?
Without doubt, many more skills-short employers are waking up to the fact that the veteran population – which actually comprises 6% of the entire adult population – is a cohort too large to ignore.
They are slowly beginning to put prejudices behind them, and realise the power of the transferable skills veterans have – leadership, teamwork, ability to inspire – all the ‘soft-skills’ employers claim they need.
But, also without doubt, it’s because thee are many bodies are out there working tirelessly each and every day, selling the virtues of veterans to employers.
Just one of these is Hire Heroes USA, officially the most effective veteran employment nonprofit in the country.
Through employer training and advisory assistance, Hire Heroes USA’s expert team members share best practices and work with employers to develop veteran-focused hiring. These include advising them on how to focus on performance and potential rather than just education.
To hear more about their work, TLNT spoke exclusively to Hire Heroes USA’s Sarah Ragone, associate director of corporate partnerships:
Q: Firstly, congratulations on your sterling work. Do you think the message that you and other agencies are pushing is finally getting through, and that things are in a better place(employment-wise), for veterans?
A: “We’ve definitely seen improvements, and I definitely think we are in a better place than we were. I think employers are certainly trying to do a better job of welcoming veterans into their companies. But at the same time there is work to be done still. It’s worth saying, however, that this isn’t always the fault of employers though. We know that the military still doesn’t prepare those about to leave the services as well as it could/should. A lot of people leave the armed forces, and they’re left to figure things out on their own. They don’t often get connected to different places and it’s very common – we hear – that there isn’t enough education given about how service personnel can ‘sell’ their skills to employers.
Q: What’s the main issue here?
A: “A lot of the language that’s used in the military just doesn’t make sense to employers, and veterans sometimes struggle translating what they know and are capable of doing in a way that employers just ‘get’. I would love it – in a perfect world – if veterans were better prepared, but this is just not often the case.
Q: Is it the case that most veterans are actually quite young, and so they still have plenty to give?
A: “Yes, absolutely. Most veterans tend to come out of service after around 20 years’ service. So, for the vast majority of leavers, they’re not on the scrap heap by a long shot, and they have skills that employers desperately need. I think where it’s hard for veterans is knowing how to transfer these skills to new non-military roles. That’s why we lead from the other side, to try and encourage employers to adopt more of a skills-based-hiring approach. We find that many employers still have degree-level stipulations in their job ads, but for the jobs they’re actually advertising, veterans could easily do this. The problem is that if a veteran sees that a degree is needed, they’ll be put off applying in the first place.”
Q: Tell us more about the people you help then?
A: “Most of the people we assist have easily got the skills employers are looking for – and that’s why we are so passionate about matching people to companies – because we know the veterans we support will thrive once they get employment. I would say we work with 400-500 veterans every week, and have around 22,000 active job seekers. We are literally just about to hit our 100,000th confirmed hire, and last year alone, we secured 13,000 confirmed hires. Because of the close relationships we have with employers, the starting salaries veterans are able to get are higher too, vis-à-vis if these people tried to find jobs on their own.”
Q: Is it a ‘hard sell’ trying to get employers on board?
A: We’re thankful that because of our reputation, most employers come to us, although for some, yes, we still have to ‘sell our story’ a bit. We do a lot of outreach too. We also have to remind ourselves, that when new companies come on board, often it will be the first time they’re doing this, so they might still have reservations about veterans that we need to dispel.”
Q: Is the main myth that some employers see veterans as coming with ‘baggage’ and potentially things like post traumatic stress disorder?
A: “It happens, but actually, this perception is not as bad as many actually think. Sure, these people have lived experiences that many won’t have, but thankfully many employers are now beginning to understand what their journeys will have been.”
Q: We’ve talked about perceived barriers, but what are the things that veterans are totally amazing at?
A: “It goes without doubt that veterans are very organised, disciplined and follow instruction really well. But they’re also problem solvers – the army fosters this – and they are also really loyal and highly dedicated. They know what it means to be part of a team. We tend to find that this skillset gives them an even broader range of employment opportunities than even they would have thought. Our own CEO used to be an Apache pilot for instance! Often veterans will assess their skills in a very narrow way – but with a bit of coaching we teach them to see the broader picture – for instance the management skills they have, or the leadership potential they have.”
Q: So what do you think the outlook is for veterans today?
A: “The prospects I think are good, but the benefits of hiring veterans still needs to be constantly talked about. It’s also worth remembering that while employers will be aware of certain days that focus their attention on veterans – such as November’s Veterans Day, and National Hire A Veteran Day in July – it’s worth reminding employers that people move out of the Armed Services all the way through the year. It’s an all-year round activity for veterans to find work.”