Who's hiring veterans, and what positions are being filled by veterans?
CareerBuilder set out to answer those questions and, just in time for Veterans Day, the results are in.
First, it found that more employers are actively recruiting vets this year (38 percent) than last (33 percent) and in 2013 (27 percent). Nearly half (47 percent) have hired a veteran in the past 12 months, up from 44 percent in 2014. Nearly a third hired a vet who recently returned from active duty.
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When asked what job openings were being newly staffed by ex-military personnel, these were the top five:
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Customer service: 38 percent
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Information technology: 32 percent
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Sales: 31 percent
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Production: 29 percent
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Distribution and logistics: 22 percent
When veterans were asked about their experiences in the job market, the results were a mixed bag of negative and positive. For instance, 71 percent said they felt they were prepared to enter the job market. But that was down from 81 percent a year earlier.
Further, "veterans are considerably less content with their jobs than last year," CareerBuilder said. Almost a third said they believed their current job represented underemployment — up from 23 percent the year earlier. But job satisfaction remained fairly steady at 65 percent, compared to 67 percent the year earlier.
"Over the past few years companies have focused heavily on marketing their veteran hiring initiatives, which was necessary and has paid off," said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resource officer at CareerBuilder. "But employers may still not understand the skills veterans had in the military, which may land them in positions that don't use all their skills and not get them the higher salary levels that they deserve. Veterans may have to present themselves in a different way, but once hired employers should work to ensure they have the skills they need to be successful and in challenging, rewarding roles in their civilian careers."
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
