Iraq veterans are coming back home and will be looking for jobs right away. Will they be able to find one?
As the Idaho Press reports, an estimated number of about 600 Idaho Iraq war veterans from the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team could face a shortage of civilian employment. “We don’t have a lot of hard numbers, (but) we know for a fact that 30 to 40 percent of the 116th were unemployed when they departed,” Veteran Coordinator for the Idaho Department of Labor Chris Ramos said.
With an already tough job market and a full load of applicants for almost all positions, it will be exceedingly difficult for these soldiers to find work in the job market of today. The lack of available jobs might make it even more difficult for these veterans to make a smooth transition into “civilian life” when experts say that this is easier if they have a job when they return. “We take them out of society and expect them to fight our battles,” Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Idaho Chairman Bruce Wright said in the Idaho Press-Tribune. “And then they come back and we owe it to them to try to find work for them.”
SOURCE: Idaho Press-Tribune
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