Monster.com, a job search engine, recently released the Veterans Talent Index , which is a report that surveys unemployed veterans and potential employers of such veterans. The survey found that a large amount of veterans do not feel confident in their ability to find a job as a civilian.
This is said to stem from both a challenging job market and the difficulties many veterans face in readjusting to being a civilian. Finding a job has been shown to be most difficult amongst veterans who are between the ages of 18 and 24 years old.
According to the Department of Labor there are close to 900,000 veterans who are unemployed in the United States. The government has created programs to help readjust veterans back into society. There has additionally been programs that the government has put into place to train veterans.
Programs such as the Special Employer Incentive Program helps both veterans and employers. It provides incentives for the company to hire veterans. Companies who take part in this program are paid a portion of the veteran's salary as an incentive to keep them employed and to hire other veterans.
In Texas, the workforce commission created College Credit for Heroes which helps veterans gain college credit for their prior experience in the military. Its aim is to also get veterans working as civilians as soon as possible.
The Veterans Opportunity to Work to Hire Heros Act of 2011 provides benefits to certain unemployed veterans between the ages of 35 and 60. Work opportunity tax credits are another benefit for employees who hire veterans who meet certain qualifications.
In addition to these programs, Monster.com's Veterans Talent Index also showed that veterans are encouraged to apply for jobs seeking security clearance.
It is said that once veterans are hired and given the opportunity to work, they rank equal to or even higher in regards to skills and work performance, when compared to non-veterans.
