TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Veterans Struggle In Job Market

ADVERTISEMENT

By HOPE YEN, The Associated Press

Published: February 8, 2008

WASHINGTON - Strained by war, recently discharged veterans are having a harder time finding civilian jobs and are more likely to earn lower wages for years partly because of employer concerns about their mental health and overall skills, a government study says.

The Veterans Affairs Department report, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, points to continuing problems with the Bush administration's efforts to help 4.4 million troops who have been discharged from active duty since 1990.

The 2007 study by the consulting firm Abt Associates found that 18 percent of the veterans who sought jobs within one to three years of discharge were unemployed, while one out of four who did find jobs earned less than $21,840 a year. Many had taken advantage of programs such as the GI Bill to boost job prospects, but there was little evidence that education benefits yielded higher pay or better advancement.

The report blamed the poor prospects partly on inadequate job networks and lack of mentors after extended periods in war. The study said employers often had misplaced stereotypes about veterans' fitness for employment, such as concerns they did not have adequate technological skills, or were too rigid, lacked education or were at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Promotion Of Skills Wanted

It urged the government to consider working with a private-sector marketing firm to help promote and brand war veterans as capable employees, as well as re-examine education and training.

"The issue of mental health has turned into a double-edged sword for returning veterans. More publicity has generated more public awareness and federal funding for those who return home different from when they left. However, more publicity - especially stories that perpetuate the 'Wacko Vet' myth - has also made some employers more cautious to hire a veteran," said Joe Davis, spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars.

"The federal government needs to accelerate its hiring and training of these young veterans to fill the ranks of the retiring boomer generation," he said.

A VA spokesman declined to comment, saying the report spoke for itself. In November, the VA announced the initial hiring of 10 full-time staff as part of an effort to help veterans find jobs at the department.

Reservists Also Struggle

Separately, a Labor Department report obtained by the AP showed that formal job complaints by reservists remained high, citing concerns about denied jobs or benefits after they tried to return to their old jobs after extended tours in Iraq. Reservists filed 1,357 complaints with the department in 2006, the latest figures available, down from nearly 1,600 in 2005, when complaints reached the highest level since 1991.

Although complaints declined in 2006, the Labor Department report noted that figures in the previous years might have been inflated. That's because in some cases a single complaint was double counted after the case was closed in one state and then reopened in another.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT