Young Veterans Returning from the War Battling Unemployment

Young male veterans returning from the war fields of Afghanistan and Iraq are now battling unemployment; good jobs are hard to come by. Two of the disillusioned are Thomas Jones and Vincent Moore aged twenty five and thirty one respectively. They are full of thanks that at least for now they have found employment in a video game parlour in Suffolk at Virginia.

But this sort of job is not giving due recognition to the skills they have acquired while in the middle of the excitement of war; neither is the pay in keeping with their experiences. Jones, who served in the infantry in both the war zones said, “Finding the small-time jobs, maybe at a restaurant or working in retail is one thing, but a lot of guys out are looking for something a little more permanent”.

The national unemployment on an average for male veterans (ages ranging from 18 to 24) who have served in the military from 2001 September is at the alarming figure of 28.3% in the second quarter of 2011; last year in the same quarter it was 21.9%.

The male veterans in the age covering 25 years to 34 years it is 14.5% during the second quarter of this year; it is 9.5% for the non-veterans within this same age bracket.

There has not been proper focus on their plight. A website has been launched by the Department of Veterans Affairs that will provide the link between the employers and the veterans. In a new pioneering programme in college campuses numbering eight, is connecting the veterans with the counselors to assist them in making the best use of their education.

Last March the Chamber of Commerce started a programme covering one year – Hiring our Heroes. It included one hundred hiring fairs – the aim being to help the veterans together with their spouses to finding proper employment.

The focus is on the veterans who are young and those who are disabled said Ruth Fanning of Veterans Affairs Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service (director).

She said, “What we’re doing is helping them adjust to the fact that they’re starting a new career and develop a plan for the best career for them”. She explained that the young among the veterans were the ones who were “most vulnerable” for “they’re least likely to have anything other than entry-level employment in their past”.