War Veterans Face Job Search Woes
BY Herschel Smith
16 years, 6 months ago
I have been tracking this for a while not only as an interested military observer and father of a warrior, but also in the spirit of moral and ethical responsibilities. God will judge America based on how she treats her returning warriors. Read the following reports.
Military.com (excerpt):
Strained by war, recently discharged veterans are having a harder time finding civilian jobs and are more likely to earn lower wages for years due partly to employer concerns about their mental health and overall skills, a government study says.
The Veterans Affairs Department report, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, points to continuing problems with the Bush administration’s efforts to help 4.4 million troops who have been discharged from active duty since 1990.
Chicago Sun-Times (excerpt):
Is Illinois still a “state of shame,” as proclaimed by a 2006 Chicago Sun-Times series that revealed the state ranked among the worst at helping veterans find jobs?
The stories told how, three years into the war in Iraq, those leaving the military were facing an unexpected problem: Veterans were having a hard time finding work.
The series reported that in 2005, just one in three unemployed war veterans who sought help from the Illinois Employment Security Department found jobs.
In response, Gov. Blagojevich offered six ways to help vets get — and keep — jobs. Here’s how his plans have held up.
Chicago Sun-Times (excerpt):
Jason Heldt served two tours of duty in Iraq as a hospital corpsman with the Navy.
The 25-year-old, now living with his parents in Crete, holds certifications as a medical assistant and nurse’s aide. But he’s having a hard time finding a health care job.
Southtown Star (excerpt):
John Fudala, 29, who lives in Bridgeview with his mother, has been “full-time job hunting” for almost a year.
He served in Iraq from 2006 to 2007 as a specialist in the Army National Guard. Fudala still devotes one weekend a month to the Guard. If more troops are needed for the war zone, it’s possible he could be sent back.
That scares away employers.
It’s a “detriment to getting your foot in the door,” Fudala said.
Every one of these reports is worth reading. It should be said that any employer (excluding very small businesses) which refuses to hire a veteran where the reason is that they might be called up for duty is not only committing an immoral act of discrimination against that veteran, but also dishonoring the very country that has given that employer the freedom to conduct business. Such a business is also not worthy of our patronage.
On April 21, 2008 at 1:59 am, LT Nixon said:
I was talking with a reservist O-6 about this very issue. He told me that a lot of employers seem to have the belief that management skills learned in the military aren’t really valid since “people have to do what you tell them in the military”. I’ve been quite impressed with the management abilities of NCOs, and I wish there was a way to dispel this stereotype in corporate america. Unfortunately, that will be difficult as we represent a small portion of the population.
On April 21, 2008 at 11:15 am, who dey said:
I agree finding a job when returning back from duty is a difficult one. This is sad to see because many of the youth that is sent to Iraq and return come back with PTSD problems but the vets are way more qualified with life skills and management.
It is not what you know but who you know and I was able to signup with the website http://www.vetfriends.com and find a job through their Veteran owned online business directory. Who better to hire a vet than a fellow vet! Also was government grants you can obtain as a vet to start your own business and not worry about getting a job.
On April 21, 2008 at 8:27 pm, artillerysurveyor said:
Wow, who would of thought, hard to get a job. Todays vet beats the civilian hands down on work ethic and work skills. Civilians dont hire vets because they’re afraid they’d run the business right, and end up in charge and fire half the idiots that work there! Just ask the vets already out for a while about working for civilians, no trust, back stabbing is a norm, etc etc. DOD is no better. They only want temp hires, then can your ass just before you become permanet status. Then this idea of starting a business, LMAO. Only 1 in 10 succeed. Starting a business is a little more complicated then what people think. Been there done that. Best shot a vet has today is get into college and get a degree, a degree you can use, not the worthless degrees outthere. It’ll be tough especially if you have a family, otherwise you’ll be locked into low wage to no wage jobs forever.