Working Wounded Blog: Support the Troops -- Hire Them

Aug. 30, 2006 — -- SupportTheTroops. SupportTheTroops. SupportTheTroops.

This is the newest "wallpaper" in the United States. You see it on bumper stickers, in commercials and hear it in conversations. Based on the number of times you see or hear the phrase, it's hard to not to think that we are doing everything we can to show the troops that we're behind them.

Think again.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly one in five veterans age 20 to 24 is unemployed. This is three times the national average. According to the government, approximately a quarter million veterans leave the military annually. So we're talking about many thousands of soldiers who served their country and have returned to an unemployment line.

These unemployed former soldiers list a variety of reasons for the high unemployment rate, according to a poll by CareerBuilder. They include a lack of available jobs where they live, employers who don't understand how the skills acquired in the military translate to the civilian world, lack of a college degree and the inability of the soldiers to adequately demonstrate what they learned in the military in interviews and resumes. Sure, these veterans could probably do a better job of presenting themselves and their experience in the employment dance, but I believe that based on their sacrifice, it is incumbent on the country's businesses and corporations to meet them more than half way.

A disclaimer: I have never served in the military. And it doesn't take a lot of reading between the lines of my writing to see that I, like the majority of Americans, believe that enough people have died in Iraq, and it's time for us to get the heck out of there.

But I do think our soldiers have tackled a really tough assignment, and the vast majority have represented their uniform and country well. I'm not sure that I'd say that returning vets should get special treatment, but for the youngest of the returning soldiers to have three times the unemployment rate of nonvets is embarrassing. And wrong.

And it gets even worse. According to the survey by CareerBuilder, 11 percent of veterans don't identify themselves as veterans on their resumes, while another 17 percent do so only selectively. It seems that too many are using their vast experience as a resource for employment.

People who put themselves in harm's way should be appreciated for their loyalty and sacrifice. To not appreciate their ability to work as part of a team, their disciplined approach to work, their problem-solving skills, their ability to work under pressure and their respect, integrity and leadership is to overlook the skills and talents that they've already proved in the military. It's time for employers to look beyond the apparent drawbacks -- the lack of a college degree, etc. -- and instead appreciate what these potentially talented and dedicated job candidates can bring to a corporation.

Support the troops by hiring them, it's the least that we can all do.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" -- Ronald Reagan

BOOK EXCERPT OF THE WEEK

From "Eisenhower on Leadership" by Alan Axelrod (Jossey Bass, 2006):

"An effective leader uses words as scalpels, not butter knives. They are sharp and precise, their function to incise rather than smear. One must distinguish between caution, a necessity in leading any enterprise of genuine value, and timidity, a character flaw fatal to leadership. Timid leaders are often rash. They act in panic and with little thought. Don't mistake this for genuine boldness, which is made possible by caution: the husbanding of resources that enables maximum effort, the thorough planning that creates the confidence to act in good faith with the whole heart and with every muscle."

Blog Ballot Results

Here are the results from a recent Working Wounded Blog/ABCNews.com online ballot:

How would you rate women in the workplace?

   Women cause a lot of problems, 33 percent

   Women add a lot, 42 percent

   Women should be calling the shots, 25 percent

Bob Rosner is a best-selling author, an internationally syndicated columnist, popular speaker, and a recent addition to the community of bloggers. He welcomes your comments at bob@workingwounded.com.

This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.