IES Blog

Companies benefit from hiring young veterans

Posted on October 22nd, 2012 Read time: 1 minutes

Firms are directing their HR administration to undertake hiring initiatives that target a new demographic – young U.S. military veterans.

The unemployment rate among this group of individuals is declining, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, it still remains higher than the national rate for non-veterans. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is aiming to change this through its "Hiring Our Heroes" job fairs.

For the past 18 months, the chamber has been hosting these events around the country as a way to help more than 10,000 veterans and their spouses find jobs, the newspaper reports. So far, approximately 300 fairs have been held.

Companies have noted the merit in hiring young veterans. Jeff Owens, president of Advanced Technology Services, noted these men and women make ideal employees. "The veterans are always clean-cut, prompt, courteous, professional," Owens told the WSJ. "Getting up early, getting to work on time, all those things – that's not an issue."

The jobless rate for veterans under the age of 24 is 29.1 percent, according to Face the Facts USA. That's nearly four times the national rate of 7.8 percent.

Related Articles