Combat Veterans Find Military Service Can Hurt Job Prospects

[The Straight Story]

Combat Veterans Find Military Service Can Hurt Job Prospects
Saturday, April 24, 2010

Traditionally, Americans have gone out of their way to hire combat veterans, but the mood has shifted when it comes to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Unable to find work due to public concerns over what they’ve brought back from the war, some veterans are leaving off their military experience from resumes. Hiding their military service from potential employers is grounded in the struggle former soldiers have endured in finding civilian employment and the reality that their unemployment rate is far higher than the national average.

The jobless rate for recently discharged veterans is currently 14.7%, compared to the national unemployment rate of 9.7%. For former military personnel under 24, the rate is more than 20%.

Many employers are said to be concerned about hiring ex-soldiers for fear they have post-traumatic stress disorder or other mental health problems.

A group of lawmakers led by Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington) is proposing legislation that would help veterans by expanding job training programs, GI Bill benefits and career counseling advice.

http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/Combat_Veterans_Find_Military_Service_Can_Hurt_Job_Prospects_100424

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. The other concern is recall to active duty

Most enlistment contracts split the time between active and several different kinds of reserve status. Unless one has fully separated from the military, you are subject to recall. Firing/demoting them due to being called up (while they are gone or when they return) gets the employer is serious legal trouble. The reticence is understandable, PTSD concerns or not.

[arcadian]

2. Veterans already have preferred status for Federal jobs.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. That is being weakened slightly with the NSPS, demo programs and homeland defense personnel policies

[AnArmyVeteran]

4. My dear friend and WWII veteran couldn't get work either. He was called a "trained killer".

Joe, my dear WWII friend and long time mentor, told me when he tried to get a job after serving in combat he was told by a prospective employer "Why would we want to employ a 'Trained Killer'? I guess there has been a bias against returning vets for a long time.