Posts Tagged ‘military veterans’

A national program offering veterans multi-year apprenticeships in the construction industry has proven to be a good fit for transitioning service members. The Helmets to Hardhats program, run by a nonprofit, matches veterans with skilled training programs for the gamut of construction trades. At the training center for the Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 19 in Philadelphia, apprentices enter a four-and-a-half-year program with a starting pay of $17.86 per hour …

Post-9/11 veterans are finding and keeping jobs in larger numbers, according to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans declined from 12.1 percent in 2011 to 9.9 percent in 2012, reported CNN. The unemployment rate for non-veterans last year, though, was 7.9 percent. Veterans of all generations also experienced employment gains last year. Their unemployment rate dropped from 8.3 percent in 2011 to 7 percent. Women veterans continue to lag behind their male counterparts, however, when it comes to finding a job. The unemployment rate for post-9/11 female veterans was 12.5 percent last year, compared to 9.5 percent for men, according to the story.

Industry needs to take the lead in reaching out to military veterans by either developing its own targeted hiring initiatives or relying on other companies’ best practices, according to a report Monster.com and Military.com released Tuesday. Private sector companies, including Boeing and J.P. Morgan, have launched veteran recruitment programs and veteran affinity groups that have successfully attracted thousands of veterans …

Unemployment among Guard and Reserve veterans has declined according to a new survey, but more work is needed to help those veterans join the civilian ranks, a senior defense official told the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity on Thursday. Unemployment among Reserve component members overall dropped from 13 percent to 11 percent over the previous year; for junior enlisted service members, it fell from 23 percent to 18 percent …

While the Pentagon remains committed to supporting military personnel and their families, across-the-board spending reductions and the ongoing continuing resolution funding DOD in fiscal 2013 will diminish the department’s ability to maintain the level of service it provides and to advance new initiatives, senior DOD officials told the House Armed Services’ Military Personnel Subcommittee Wednesday. “Sequestration and CR will inevitably degrade services and impede progress in most of these programs …

Two economists have identified prolonged deployments overseas as the root cause of high unemployment among recent veterans, but the exact reason for the connection is unclear, according to a recent paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The disparity in unemployment rates could not be explained by demographic differences between new veterans and civilians or by the health of the economy …

Researchers estimate there are between 275,000 and 1 million women and men who are providing care or have provided care for veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, but little is known about their needs and the nation lacks a coherent strategy for supporting them, according to a new RAND Corp. report. Military caregivers — which include spouses, children and parents of military members and veterans — differ from informal caregivers of civilians in several key ways, the report states …

Spending by the Department of Veterans Affairs on disability benefits, veterans education and health care is exempt from across-the-board cuts that will imposed under sequestration, but plenty of other federal programs that support veterans, especially those within the Pentagon, are not. Veterans likely will find themselves most vulnerable to cutbacks in military spending for health care and related programs …

Many states have heeded the call from First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of the vice president, to eliminate hurdles to military spouses and veterans finding employment, but more states need to join the effort, the two told the nation’s governors on Monday. Biden said that 28 states have passed laws making it easier for spouses in fields such as teaching, nursing and social work to transfer their professional licenses when they relocate to another state because of a new military posting …

Legislation proposed in Maryland to give veterans credit for military training and experience would help them find jobs more quickly after they leave the Armed Forces, a DOD official told a state panel in Annapolis this week. “From our perspective, this is one of the most comprehensive [bills] that we’ve seen,” said Frank DiGiovanni, DOD’s director of training readiness and strategy for the deputy assistant secretary for readiness …