This weekend, hundreds of thousands of Americans will head to beaches and barbeques to celebrate Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer. However, we’d like to remind and encourage benefits professionals to remember the official reason for the holiday: to honor our military service men and women—specifically, those who paid the ultimate price to defend our nation.
We can think of no better way for our industry to honor the fallen than to help their returning comrades find sustainable employment. Not only is hiring veterans a meaningful Memorial Day tribute, it’s also a gaping need for the labor force.
Statistics show that the unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans (military personnel whose most recent service was in Iraq and/or Afghanistan) is nearly 9%, above the overall national rate of about 6.3%. Unemployment for young veterans (ages 20 – 24) remains well into the double digits.
To lower those numbers and help veterans transition back into civilian life, several legislative and nonprofit initiatives are open to employers.
In 2011, President Obama signed the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, which provides tax credits for businesses that hire unemployed and disabled veterans. “Just as they fight for us on the battlefield, it’s up to us to fight for our troops and their families when they come home,” Obama said when he signed the measure into law. “A deeply grateful nation is doing right by our military and paying back just a little bit what we owe our veterans.”
Also guided by the federal government, the national Chamber of Commerce oversees the Hiring Our Heroes initiative, which aims to connect job-seeking veterans with hiring employers. Corporations are helping to lead the charge as well; Clear Channel Media directs the Show Your Stripes effort, with the same goal. There are easy-to-navigate areas on both initiatives’ websites that HR/benefits pros can use to find veterans whose skills might match companies’ hiring requirements.
Data from SHRM reveal that 47% of HR professionals answered “No” when asked if their organization had hired any veterans in the past three years—in any capacity (full-time, part-time or temp/contract). Of those, just 11% said they had made a specific effort to do so.
This Memorial Day, decide to become part of a national effort to change those percentages. If you need some inspiration, take these remarks from Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks:
“It's time to recognize that this era's veterans have a chance to be our nation's ‘catalyst generation’—people whose patriotism and effectiveness, honed and proven, can now spark in all of us a renewed spirit of citizen responsibility and power.”
From all of us at Benz Communications, have a safe and happy Memorial Day holiday.
