Many veterans are getting hired; it’s going to be a difficult transition

Phillip Slaughter got the job of hauling packages for FedEx after serving 18 years in the army. He is grateful for his job because the U.S. is experiencing a record for the lowest veteran employment.

He was not interested in doing it as the job worsened his post-traumatic stress disorder. It took him three years and several jobs to find his ideal job as a sourcing recruiter for a tech company. Slaughter currently runs his own company with fellow vets, and he’s curious to know how many veterans are happy about working in their current positions.

Gest said he was thankful for landing a six-figure salary job, and he negotiated the wage because of his experience in the Army.  On the other hand, Thomas Holmes, 46, is still searching for a decent job after serving for 17 years in Air Force. He left it in 2012 and has tried working at multiple places but left after some time due to one reason or another.

Despite having a bachelor’s degree in the subject and skills that would seem transferable, Jayla Hair’s journey from the Navy to the civilian paralegal world was challenging. She had to deal with rejections every day because she lacked experience in state laws and civil courts.  Hair has held temporary positions in the legal industry before landing full-time paralegal work with a Fortune 500 firm in Chicago.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the annual veteran unemployment rate decreased steadily from 8.7% in 2010 to 3.1% in 2019. The yearly rate was 4.4%, following a rise brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. However, President Joe Biden noted that March’s seasonally adjusted monthly % was 2.4, which was recorded as the lowest rate ever.

Now that resume-writing instruction is mandatory, American businesses have started campaigns to hire several hundred thousand veterans.

One of them is Transition Overwatch, an organization that manages career apprenticeship programs all around the nation. According to CEO Sean Ofeldt, the business focuses on what active duty service people desire to do in the civilian world rather than what they are already doing or what they have experienced in the military.

According to Ofeldt, the former Navy SEAL, many military members don’t want to continue doing what they did previously. Thus, they are training them while they’re working. He said they aim to launch these members into an actual career with complete support for the initial 12 months.

But providing work is only one component of the support system for veterans. Karl Hamner, a professor of education at the University of Alabama, stated that it also has to concentrate on social issues.

Veterans who have lost their tribe or other military members may feel alone. According to recent statistics, the loss can be excruciating for women because they tend to develop close relationships with one another while navigating a male-dominated military, according to Hamner.

According to a soon-to-be-published nationwide poll of 4,700 female veterans conducted by Hamner and his colleagues, 71% of respondents indicated they needed more time to decide what they wanted to do, and 70% said it was difficult to return to civilian life.

Hamner said they had to establish themselves in a respected, highly valued profession.