It’s one of the best things ever to hear that our troops are coming home. Families across the nation anticipate the return of their family members serving overseas and the joy they experience when they return is comparable to almost nothing else. However, as these veterans return home from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, they face extremely difficult challenges. Not only do they have to slowly return back to their normal, everyday lives but they also must work to find a job. In our current market, finding a job is a tedious and long task. When you add being out of the workforce for years to the table, it’s nearly impossible. The fact of the matter though is that veterans that served our country should not have to return home unemployed and unable to find work.
According to statistics reported by the Huffington Post, one out of three veterans cannot find a job when they come back from serving our country. Not only does this number show how poor our job market is, but it proves how veterans returning home are in for a more difficult time than they anticipated or deserve. It doesn’t make sense that a veteran that risked giving up their life for our country isn’t able to find a job to provide for his or her family when they return. The need to do something was obvious when First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden created the Joining Forces Initiative. As stated on their website, Joining Forces is “an initiative that mobilizes all sectors of society to give our service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned.”
In step with the initiative, Goodwill hired more than 1,000 veterans and family members in order to provide the opportunities they need. They also trained around 44,000 veterans so they could be more prepared to enter into the job market. It is the thoughts of many that more and more companies need to take the initiative like this to help hire veterans returning home. Last year, Spark News discussed how Obama’s veteran jobs bill would give tax credits and breaks to companies that hired veterans.
It was said that this jobs bill would work towards getting more veterans hired, but it doesn’t seem to be having the impact that is needed. Even back in November, experts were saying that the tax breaks were a good start but that more needed to be done. Jan McKeel, executive director of the South Central Tennessee Workforce Alliance, was quoted saying, “But while tax credits are great, I don’t think anybody’s going to create a job just for a tax break.”
As more and more veterans return home, the question remains: What are we going to do in order to find jobs for those that served our country? I think it’s fair to say that veterans are the last ones that should be vying tooth and nail to find a job after returning home from overseas.
What do you think? Do you think enough is being done today to help veterans find work? Tell me about it in the comments or tweet me @nicole_spark.
SOURCE: Huffington Post
IMAGE: Courtesy of Big Interview
