Maurice Wilson
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Fox News – A coalition of 59 American companies made a pledge, last year, to hire at least 100,000 military veterans by the year 2020. To date, those companies have hired more than 18,000 vets.
More job offers to veterans were extended, Saturday, at an employment fair at the Walter Reed medical campus in Bethesda.
If you look at recent numbers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it’s clear that veterans actually have a better track record of getting and keeping employment than does the general population at large. For example, in July, the overall national unemployment rate was 8.3%. But, among all veterans, the unemployment rate was only 6.9%
Of course, if you’re in that 6.9%, it can be very stressful. 46-year-old Gary McFarlane, who retired as a Master Sergeant after 24 years in the Marines, says he’s had trouble sleeping, recently.
Back in 2010, when McFarlane separated from the Marines, he was offered a job within his first two days of searching. But his employer’s government contract was not renewed, and, for the past five months, he’s been on a discouraging hunt for work. “Most employers are looking… to pay you ten dollars an hour, fifteen dollars an hour,” said McFarlane, shaking his head. “And I can’t raise my family and pay my mortgage on that kind of salary. I’m not asking for a lot of money, but I’m asking for enough to take care of my family.”
Retired Master. Sgt. McFarlane spent much of the day at a hiring event at the new Walter Reed campus in Bethesda. Dozens of companies, as it turns out, want to hire veterans. Academi is a security company seeking retired military personnel.
Kelley Gannon, a spokeswoman for Academi, told us: “[Veterans] have the training that we need, they have worked in high-stress, often high-threat and high-risk areas, which, in some cases, our clients require us to do… as well.”
Even the large banking firm, JP Morgan Chase, is looking for vets for different divisions, including the institution’s IT department. Some veterans are even invited by JP Morgan Chase to train to become personal bankers. “When you put a mission in front of a soldier, sailor, airman or marine, they know what the task is in front of them,” explains bank vice president Eddie Dunn, who adds: that translates into effective employees.
40 different area companies were talking to veterans, giving one-on-one interviews, and, in some cases, on Saturday, those companies were extending job offers.
