I wanted to take the time to share this information with you about Veteran unemployment from the Department of Labor & VA. As of August 2, 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics release the below unemployment data. The "cheat sheet" was released by the Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Opportunity at the VA and the following are key data points:
National:
7.4% (down .2%)
All
Vets: 6.4% (up .1%)
Post- 9/11: 7.7% (up .5%)
The cold harsh reality is that Veteran unemployment will
be increasing over the next few years because of another reduction of
forces. Many Veterans do not have the skills, education, and
certifications to qualify for the jobs they are presently performing on Active
Duty or in the Reserves today. As government contractors or as
commercial employees, their skills need to transform from military to
civilian. There are many outstanding companies offering training and
educational opportunities for Veterans (e.g. CISCO, Google, NetAPP,
Amazon, Solar Industry, and many more).
In my line of work "government contracting", I
try to hire Veterans because I'm a Service Disabled Veteran
(SDV) who owns a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)
but the Department of Defense (DoD) makes it difficult. My company
tries to hire veterans but another cold hard reality is that DoD and
some other Federal agencies have been telling industry (indirectly) NOT
to hire veterans based on the educational and certification requirements being
placed in solicitations (e.g. RFQ, RFPs) documents. When contracting
officers & Program Manager (PMs) state that certain educational
requirements and mandatory certification requirements are required on day
1 of a contract for contractor personnel (although some directives may give up
to a year in some cases), Veterans (e.g. Retired, Separated, Service Disabled,
Wounded Warriors, etc.), are negatively impacted because Small
Businesses may not immediately and cannot immediately invest in Veterans
training and certification until they are hired and on the payroll.
The cold harsh reality is that many of the companies
mentioned above provide training but the Veterans completing these programs
may not have the formal education or experience in many cases to
even qualify for the jobs they were doing while on active duty. Many are
trained, few can find employment and even fewer can qualify for may
positions described in many solicitation documents.
Please take a look at this cold harsh reality below on
the Top 10 Federal Agencies for FY2012. The DoD does not have a
"Veterans First" contracting strategy nor are there any incentives
available for companies supporting the DoD to hire Veterans and especially
"wounded warriors" or "service disabled Veterans." Hiring Veterans
could be a requirement in contracting strategies or sub-contracting plans
but it seem it is easier to increase Veterans TRICARE (Healthcare) cost
and reduce benefits than to hire Vets. Between congressional
actions and DoD leadership, this can be fixed if we want it fixed. The
cold harsh reality is that it takes congressional action and DoD to create
Veterans, Service Disabled Veterans, and Wounded Warriors.
|
Top Ten Federal Agencies (SBA)
Rank/Agency
FY’12 Dollars
1. Department of Defense $274,625,161,617 2. Department of Energy $24,562,882,765 3. Department of Health and Human Services $18,461,515,353 4. Department of Veterans Affairs $17,335,860,700 5. National Aeronautics and Space Administration $13,418,655,917 6. Department of Homeland Security $12,700,335,305 7. Department of Justice $5,847,014,555 8. Department of Agriculture $5,332,720,225 9. Department of Commerce $3,261,832,708 10. Department of State $3,166,122,178
Percent
of Small Business Prime Contracts FY 2012 (SBA)
1. Department of
Agriculture 52.9%
2. Department of State 39.1%
3. Department of Commerce
36.8%
4. Department of Veteran Affairs 35.1%
5. Department of Homeland Security 31.0%
6. Department of Justice 29.7%
7. Department of Health and Human Services 22.4%
8. Department of Defense 20.4%
9. National Aeronautics and Space
Administration 19.3%
10. Department of Energy 5.1%
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Veterans don't want hand-outs, they want to continue to support
this "Republic" with dignity, honor, and respect. They also
deserve more than ribbons and badges for serving their country.
I do not know of any company that want to provide
substandard personnel to support any government contract but the Veterans or
Wounded Warriors currently doing job that are now being filled by
contractors should be provide hiring preference and companies should be
provided incentives for hiring Veterans and especially Wounded
Warriors. My goal is to reduce veteran unemployment and also
help to educate everyone on this cold harsh reality. I
commend those Generals and Senior Executives who would advocate on behalf of
Veterans (including wounded warriors); however, when Post 9/11 Veteran
unemployment goes up by .5% the reality is that there is not enough being done
to transition Veterans to be contributing citizens. Actions matter more
than words. It is a cold harsh reality when Senior DoD leaders chooses to cut military personnel tuition assistance programs instead of fixing or terminating underperforming projects and programs.
The cold harsh reality is that supporting Wounded
Warriors at retreats, baseball games, or entertainment event is a noble
gesture; however, changing existing policies (e.g. Federal
Agencies should have a Veteran First Policy for
"certified" SDVOSBs, Incentives should be provided for companies that
hire Service Disabled Veterans or Wounded Warriors, Government should not be
raising the qualification bar higher that those expected of the personnel
currently doing the work being contracted out if there are no performance
issues) to enable Veterans to continue to contribute to society and GET A
JOB after leaving the military is the ultimate OUTCOME expected as we give
back our defenders to our society.
The cold harsh reality is that many Veterans don’t plan
proactively and the transition organizations and services available are not adequate.
As an employer, trying to hire more Veterans, I would like to have access
to an online repository of Veterans and their resumes. DoD can setup
something like www.indeed.com
for transitioning Veterans where employers can search and find qualified
veterans based on their capabilities but will only be able to contact the
Veteran if they (the Veteran) respond to the employer with their contact
information. This is simple and it works.
This e-mail is in no way meant to harm any agencies efforts but
the cold harsh reality is that Veteran unemployment is going up.
As a small business owner, I spend about 5 hrs each week helping Marines
re-write their resumes to make it attractive to employers in order to qualify them
for employment and while I enjoy supporting ANY veteran, we should afford
veterans the ability to attend transition classes at least 3 years before
retirement and 2 years before separation because the transition process is not
always easy.
As the President of the Defense Acquisition University Alumni
Association for the National Capital Region, I’m seeing that senior military
leaders and civilians are also leaving government service and realizing the
challenges of getting a job in today’s environment and I hope they realize that
their subordinates also need to prepare for their transition.
| July-13 | ||||||
| Unemployment | ||||||
| Cohort (% of total) | Rate | Change | Level | Change | ||
| National | 7.4% | -0.2% | 11.5M | -300,000 | ||
| >27 Weeks | 4.2M | -100,000 | ||||
| All Veterans (100%) | 6.4% | 0.1% | 702,000 | 15,000 | ||
| Male | 6.4% | 0.3% | 610,000 | 31,000 | ||
| Female | 6.6% | -1.0% | 92,000 | -15,000 | ||
| Post-9/11 Veterans (24%) | 7.7% | 0.5% | 166,000 | 6,000 | ||
| Male | 7.7% | 0.9% | 138,000 | 13,000 | ||
| Female | 7.7% | -1.2% | 27,000 | -9,000 | ||
| 18-24 Veterans* (4%) | 17.4% | -3.1% | 28,000 | -6,000 | ||
| Male | 20.4% | -4.9% | 24,000 | -6,000 | ||
| Female** | 8.3% | - | 3,000 | - | ||
| 25-34 Veterans (13%) | 6.8% | 1.2% | 93,000 | 17,000 | ||
| Male | 6.6% | 1.8% | 74,000 | 20,000 | ||
| Female | 7.8% | -1.4% | 18,000 | -4,000 | ||
| 35-44 Veterans (19%) | 6.4% | 1.0% | 133,000 | 21,000 | ||
| Male | 6.1% | 1.4% | 104,000 | 24,000 | ||
| Female | 7.8% | -0.5% | 30,000 | -2,000 | ||
| 45-54 Veterans (23%) | 5.7% | -0.6% | 162,000 | -12,000 | ||
| Male | 5.4% | -0.7% | 131,000 | -13,000 | ||
| Female | 7.5% | 0.1% | 31,000 | 1,000 | ||
| 55+ Veterans (41%) | 6.4% | 0.1% | 287,000 | -4,000 | ||
| Male | 6.7% | 0.3% | 277,000 | 5,000 | ||
| Female | 3.0% | -2.4% | 10,000 | -9,000 | ||
| * 9,000 enrolled in school (32% of all unemployed 18-24) | ||||||
