Following is copied from Ted Daywalt of Veteran Eagle ( www.vetjobs.com ) July 1, 2011 --

Good update on Vet and NG employment levels. While the article doesn't say much about PTSD, it does recognize that PTSD is a subject discussed in HR across the country and it give statistics on vet suicide without mentioning relationship to PTSD. This article might be of interest to vets you know.

----- article -----

If one listens to the mainstream press, one would think all veterans are unemployed, have PTSD or lack civilian work skills. Fortunately, that is not the case. The REAL story is that most veterans are finding jobs even in this serious recession! For 25 years the overall unemployment rate for veterans has always been lower than the national unemployment rate. The unemployment rate for all veterans in May was only 8.3%. But there is a problem among the younger aged veterans.

The May Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Current Population Survey (CPS) unemployment report showed the unemployment for the 18 to 24 year old veterans jumped up from 26.8% in April to 31.9% in May. Prior to 2007, their unemployment rate trended towards the national rate for the same age group. In 2008 their rate started climbing. Their unemployment rate is unusually high for several reasons, but the driving cause is a large portion of the 18 to 24 year old group is in the National Guard and Reserves (NG&R).

A driving reason for the NG&R being unemployed is the current DOD call-up policy. The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Workforce Management Magazine found in surveys that employers want to hire veterans because of their skills, leadership, etc., but do not want to hire someone who will be taken away for 12 to 24 months. A business owner cannot effectively run their business with their most critical element, employees – commonly referred to as human capital, being taken away for 12 to 24 months. That is common sense to anyone in business, but not to some decision makers at DOD.

This problem is reflected in the unemployment rate of returning NG brigades whose members lost their jobs in the months prior to deployment. Here are some examples of unemployment rates when these NG brigades returned:

-Nashville, TN NG Brigade, 320 of 700 unemployed, 45.71% unemployment

-Jacksonville, FL NG Brigade, 750 of 2,500, 30% unemployment

-Rochester, NY NG Brigade, 12% unemployment

-Oregon NG, 50% unemployment

-Minnesota NG, 15% unemployment

Another way of looking at this unemployment problem is the number of USERRA complaints being filed. During the time period just prior to the announcement of the current call-up policy (2004 to 2006), there were approximately 16,000 informal and formal complaints, an average of 5,333 per year. The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) reports the number of inquiries regarding USERRA violations after the implementation of the January 2007 call-up policy jumped to 13,090 in fiscal 2008, then to 34,612 in fiscal 2010! This is an exponential increase in USERRA issues. The bottom line here is employers are not so quietly saying they will no longer support the current call-up policy.

Now there is a secondary effect that can partially be attributed to the current call-up policy. The suicide rate in the NG has more than doubled from 50 in 2009 to 112 in 2010. Of the 112 NG suicides, financial distress was one of the leading factors. 43% of Army NG suicides reported insufficient income, civilian job dissatisfaction or unemployment issues. 62% were between the ages of 17 to 26 years of age.

I am concerned that some people in DOD are looking at this problem wrong. DOD’s response to the high unemployment rate among younger veterans is more training to prepare for civilian life. If the military was an untrained work force, their overall unemployment rate as reported by DOL BLS would not be 7.7% in April or 8.3% in May! Again, the real story is that most veterans ARE finding work.

Just getting more money out of Congress to fund yet another training program at DOL, VA or DOD will NOT reduce the high unemployment rate in the NG&R, and now the high NG suicide rate. What is needed is a better balanced use of the NG&R, or a system that provides an employer an incentive to hire members of the NG&R. There are solutions which VetJobs is exploring, but no solution is free and many are not politically viable. A solution needs to be found before the NG&R unemployment rate moves higher and more commit suicide. VetJobs will continue to monitor this issue as the country needs an operational NG&R. The NG&R are true warriors defending our country. But the component members also need jobs when not called up in order to support their families.

If you are a member of the NG&R and have encountered these issues, I would be interested in your story. You can send it to me at info@vetjobs.com.