Tag Archives: unemployment

Vermont Guard Prepares for Soldiers’ Return

Posted on by Devin

Vermont Guard Prepares for Soldiers’ Return

The Vermont National Guard Family Program realizes how difficult it is for soldiers to return to their communities after returning home from their tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Spouses and children also struggle while adjusting to life with their soldiers back at home.

Unemployment is a big problem:  On average, 25 to 30 percent of returning service members walk off the plane unemployed.  Not having a job adds to the stress they have about things such as financial problems or mental health concerns.  And, as part of their participation in Yellow Ribbon events, the Guard has lined up financial advisers, benefits specialists, mental health counselors, and job placement experts to help soldiers and families.

Lt. Col. Mark Goodreau, director of the Vermont National Guard’s Family Program, says, “We realize it’s really important to put our best foot forward from the get go.” He believes that the sooner they can provide a resource, the better chance they’ll have to resolve the related issue.

If you are currently looking for assistance in Vermont, visit the Warrior Gateway and search for service organizations in your area.  If you know of any helpful organizations share them with others in our Directory.

To view the original article, Vermont Guard Begins Preparation for Soldiers’ Return, by Sam Hemingway, click here.

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Video games and veterans’ employment

Posted on by Chris

The Washington Post reported yesterday on the latest efforts of Activision Blizzard, popular video game corporation, to help out in the realm of veterans employment. Activision will be donating $1 million to set up the Call of Duty Endowment (CODE), named after the popular Activision combat video game, which will act as a foundation to help veterans find jobs.

This comes at a time when employment represents a major need within the veterans community. The unemployment rate among OEF/OIF veterans has reached 11.6%, and a newly-released study by the VA found that

Of those veterans who had found work, 25 percent earned less than $21,840 per year, the VA study said. Fifty-eight percent of recent veterans worked in the private sector and 36 percent had government jobs, according to the study.

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Finding employment may be easier in the public sector, the VA study suggested, noting that military officers and service members with college degrees were more likely to work in the public sector, indicating that the private sector is not readily employing them.

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The study encouraged more business training for veterans, and employers suggested the development of a national portfolio that could help them identify veterans qualified for various jobs.

This last point is a very important one, and the two services mentioned (connecting veterans with business training, and connecting employers with qualified job candidates in the military community) are the very backbone of what the Warrior Gateway Careers service will provide.

Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, welcomed any effort to help recent veterans, saying his group also plans to devote more attention to the issue next year.

“There’s no place for me to send vets if they need a job,” Rieckhoff added. “There’s no one-stop shop where the guy who owns a 7-Eleven can put up a job for a vet living in the same town.”

We absolutely agree with Paul, and strive to become that one-stop shop for veterans’ employment.