Veteran Unemployment

I recently read an article published by the Boston Herald August 5th stating that Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans that have left the military face an 8% unemployment rate compared to the national average of 4.6% unemployment. Now, why does this situation exist in the United States? Have we decided that vets are less competent than their private sector competitors in the job market? Are vets just not looking hard enough for work? I don't think so, however I think there are some reasons for this phenomenon.

The first possibility is the obvious one that, since these vets have been deployed overseas for years on possible multiple tours, they have lost valuable time that could have been otherwise spent climbing the corporate ladder and/or building experience and contacts that would serve them in the private sector. Most of their personal and professional contacts are likely other Soldiers or Marines, Airmen, etc. whatever the case may be who are also probably looking for work after their time is up and are not in a position to offer work.

Another, more likely scenario I think is that the private sector in general feels no special concern for war veterans. Many of these same Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are members of the reserves or National Guard in their home state and consequently an employer is likely to select someone not in the military reserves because that employee has no chance of having to leave work for 18 months because of some inconvenient war deployment. These companies for the most part are staffed with people who are trained to weed out anyone they perceive as a threat to normal operations in the company, and possibly going off to war in the service of the Army or someone else must be perceived as a bad thing to most hiring managers.

A third possibility, and this probably applies to a minority of these vets, is that they suffer from some sort of emotional or physical damage they incurred while overseas. It could be something as simple as the depression set on from spending so much time in a miserable place which causes a resulting inability to pursue opportunities with enough gusto, perhaps they are disabled and the employer doesn't want to hire someone handicapped but won't say so, or perhaps they are merely expecting that at some point they will be sent back to Iraq again by a country that has forsaken them and doesn't really care whether they live or die when it comes down to it, because, after all, they signed up for it, right?

There are some organizations that claim to help vets find work, one of them is http://www.hireahero.com/, another is called Helmets to Hardhats, and there are other programs out there that steer veterans to become teachers, for example. These programs, while shamefully unsuccessful, are really no more than online resume databases where I think nobody is actually on the other end reading the resumes that are posted.

The government also claims to try and help these vets, however these efforts often are also unsuccessful. Your state's Employment Development Department (http://www.edd.gov/) has the same online resume builders and sometimes you may find a linked private organization that has interview help and job advice, etc. The civil service gives 5 or 10 points to veterans on the civil service exam depending on their status, however there are so many people applying for the jobs that are also veterans, this will not be a significant aid to you as a vet, especially if you do not score well on the exam anyways. Our politicians prefer to funnel money to NGOs and other organizations that claim to help these vets find jobs, but they are neither helpful nor effective, obviously.

The solution is not expensive however requires some honesty and effort by all of us. If you are in a company and a veteran applies to work there who is, for example, in the National Guard, think first about that person's skills and ignore for a moment that he or she may be deployed later. These days, turnover is quite high in most companies, but veterans are typically pretty loyal to good employers, and even if they must leave your company for a tour overseas, I'll bet they will reward you with hard work and job loyalty over the duration of their employment.

A smart employer will discuss his or her fear of a possible deployment with the veteran job candidate. There should be a plan of action for what will happen if your employee leaves and a commitment by management that the company is not going to sideline the vet or fire him or her in the case of a deployment. This can be the case regardless of the size of the company.

Those reservists that are small business owners face a special problem, because when they get deployed, like me, the keystone of their business is gone for a very long time, and in some cases a deployment will kill their business and they will return only to join the ranks of those 8% unemployed veteran job seekers. What I suggest to those people is to maintain your relationships with your clients as best as you can and not give up, however there has to be a net for those veterans that cannot put it back together once they return, for whatever reason.

The military services, the government, the country, etc. however you want to call it, have a duty to these people that served in Iraq and Afghanistan and who are looking for work and cannot find a suitable job within some time frame, say 3 or 6 months. Unemployment benefits usually cover about 6 months after discharge from the military, but for those whose jobs will not come back, for those that cannot find work, or for those who lost their businesses while they were away, the military should take it upon itself to provide paid work and guidance to these veterans in their home areas. Some of you may think this sounds absurd, however for someone who has the motivation but not the resources or the opportunities, some commitment from the military in this direction will yield the right results in the form of a community of people who feel positive about their military service.

Unfortunately the reality of this country is that we routinely leave people who are in need of help to fend for themselves, regardless of who they are. We are lacking a sense of community and loyalty to our own in this country, we have forgotten that people are valuable, that everyone has something to give, and even though there are slogans these days about supporting the troops, the reality has gone little further than reciting the slogan. It is not enough to simply not spit on a veteran and call him or her a baby killer, what we need to do is not allow these people to come home and be stuck miserable and alone because the private sector is so unwilling to hire these people.

We cannot rely on the government and our politicians to help veterans; the government has failed this country, its people, and continues to do so. We've got to open our own eyes and if we come across some capable veteran who is stuck because of his jobless situation, don't forget about that guy after you meet him; think about who you know who might be able to hook him up with some work. If you're an employer, do what I do; take a few minutes out of your day, and if the guy is looking for a job and is qualified to work in your firm, give him the respect of an interview in exchange for the years he spent in the military for our country so your son or daughter wasn't drafted to do it. If you like him then hire him; if not then don't, that is respecting him. However, don't penalize him because he is in the reserves, and if he is a few years older than your other applicants, realize that this guy is only looking for the opportunity to work, and is trying to make the difficult switch to the private sector. Give that veteran the opportunity, you might be surprised how glad you will be if you put aside your fears of what you will get.