3 in 10 plan to hire veterans within next year
Despite higher than average unemployment rates, employment prospects for United States military veterans may be improving.
Sixty-five per cent of employers said they would be more likely to hire a veteran over another equally qualified candidate, according to a survey by CareerBuilder.
Three in 10 (29 per cent) employers are actively recruiting veterans to work for their organizations, up nine percentage points from one year ago, found the survey of 2,600 employers.
Twenty-two per cent are planning on adding members of the National Guard to their head count, up eight percentage points.
Employers are looking to leverage the technical and leadership skills of military personnel, with three in 10 hoping to fill information technology positions with veterans. The most common areas for hiring U.S. service men and women are:
•information technology (30 per cent)
•customer service (23 per cent)
•engineering (22 per cent)
•sales (20 per cent)
•manufacturing (20 per cent)
•business development (15 per cent).
“The unemployment rate for veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq, though declining, is still considerably higher than the general population,” said Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America. “While military veterans possess a great deal of the business-friendly skills that employers look for in candidates, one of the challenges vets face is knowing where to begin when job hunting after they return from active duty.”
