Duluth, MN - (Northland's NewsCenter) - Statistics show a significant number of America's veterans haven't been able to get a job when they came home from war.
And the problem is about to get much worse.
With the President's announcement of the draw down in Iraq, the number of vets looking for work is expected to grow by leaps and bounds.
It's already tough for veterans to find work in the U-S.
"I figured I'd find a job quick, it won't be that bad. It took me about 6 months to find a job," says Army Veteran, Derek Uttley.
And Derek Uttley was one of the lucky ones. For many veterans the job search drags on even longer.
With an expected influx of more than 27-hundred Minnesota National Guard members the need to find jobs will get intense.
It's already a tough market for vets. With a national unemployment rate of 8-point-3-percent, the veterans' unemployment rate is 11-Percent.
It's hard for many who work with vets to understand why it's so tough for them to find jobs. Today's veterans get high level training in working with others in tense situations, often work with complicated machinery, and many receive computer and other high tech experience.
"These veterans are coming back with these skills which I believe are marketable," says Veterans Employment Representative for the Minnesota WorkForce, Ben Vanderscheuren.
Sometimes the difficulty in finding a job is complicated by the challenge of adjustment to life at home.
"That transition from military life to civilian life for some people is very difficult." says Regional Director for Minnesota Council for Veterans, Steve Saari.
To help ease that transition, and get veterans ready to re-enter the work force, a new program has been implemented.
"Operation Red Bull" is designed to help currently deployed troops prepare to enter into the civilian workforce before they even set foot on American soil.
"We're starting to work on their resumes, give them labor market information, job search and stuff like that while they're over on their deployment," Vanderscheuren says.
To help ease back into civilian life, these programs assist in finding job opportunities, along with helping create resumes and training sessions such as conducting mock interviews.
"Most of our assistance is in the areas of housing, utilities, food, clothing, we have programs also that help with employment and legal services," Saari says.
The Minnesota Legislature is also trying to help.
One pending bill would encourage employers to give hiring preference to vets through state stimulus grants.
Another bill would increase veteran preference for state government jobs and contracts.
Military leaders believe both bills would significantly help with the reintegration into civilian life.
"There's all kinds of wonderful reasons for hiring veterans, but yet we seem to still be fighting for those jobs out there," Saari says.
Some area companies have already seen some of the wonderful reasons for hiring vets.
A similar bill passed this week in Wisconsin.In President Obama's 2013 budget speech he proposed that an additional 32-point-seven-million dollars be allocated to programs that help veterans transition to civilian life.
Written for the web by Danyel Piecek.
DPiecek@Northlandsnewscenter.com
Text Alerts
Twitter
Facebook