More Employers Hiring Military Veterans, Yet Assistance Still Needed

The transition for military veterans back into civilian life is not easy.  This is also true for employers who want to hire them, but need a better understanding of what they have to offer.

A new poll from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) released this week shows that the majority of organizations—64 percent—have hired military veterans during the past 36 months, an increase over the 53 percent that reported the same in 2010.

Though more than six in 10 organizations have hired military veterans during the past three years, the number could hit 10 in 10 if only the civilian and military sectors widely understood the other’s job skills jargon.

More than four in 10, or 44 percent, of human resource professionals polled said a skills map that translates military job skills into civilian job skills “would help a lot” as they review resumes and job applications. Another 34 percent said a skills map “would help somewhat.”

The 2012 poll revisits the critical workforce issue of military veteran hiring, first examined by SHRM in 2010. The poll focuses of three key questions: Are organizations hiring military veterans?; Do organizations make a specific effort to hire veterans?; and Are organizations aware of effective resources for recruiting military veterans?

“Awareness of resources is the missing piece,” said Mark Schmit, vice president of research at SHRM. “Human resource managers are keen to hire military veterans but they don’t know how to find them and once they find them, they may not understand the military skills jargon on the resume.”

Among the organizations that hired military veterans during the past 36 months, 45 percent made a specific effort to do so.

When ask what would help their organization’s efforts to recruit and hire military veterans, human resources professionals highlighted seven solutions:

—-  Assistance identifying and reaching out to qualified veterans
46 percent said  —  Would help a lot

—-  Information about how military skills map to civilian-related skills
44 percent said  —  Would help a lot

—  Programs to help veterans transition their military skills to the civilian workplace
40 percent said  — Would help a lot

—  Programs to help veterans transition from military  culture to civilian workplace culture
37 percent said  —  Would help a lot

—  Programs to train veterans with additional skills for the civilian workplace
33 percent said  —  Would help a lot

—  Information about and support for dealing with potential challenges veterans may face such as PTSD, other mental health issues
31 percent said  —  Would help a lot

—  Information about and support for dealing with potential challenges veterans with physical disabilities may face
30 percent said  —  Would help a lot

Only 13 percent of human resource professionals polled said their organization is very aware of effective resources for finding military veteran job candidates. Most, 52 percent, report their organizations is “somewhat aware” of such resources while 35 percent said their organization is “not at all aware.”

Between 2010 and 2012, awareness of Department of Labor (DOL) resources remained roughly the same. In the 2012 poll, roughly 64 percent of human resource professionals said they were “not at all familiar” with the Local Veterans’ Employment Representative (LVER) program compared with 68 percent who said the same in 2010.

Also in the 2012 poll, 67 percent reported they were not at all familiar with the DOL’s Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program (DVOP) compared with 70 percent in 2010.

For more information on the poll, go to http://bit.ly/x3YEeX.