Secretary Solis speaks at an event in honor of our veterans.
On Monday, America will celebrate the sacrifices of the men and women who’ve served their country in the armed forces. I strongly believe that the best way we can honor our veterans is to employ them.
We’ve now lowered our unemployment rate for our veterans to 6.3 percent – well below the national average – and brought down the jobless rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans by more than two percentage points in the last year alone.
Through boot camp and pre-deployment training, the U.S. government spends 8-12 weeks preparing our outstanding soldiers, sailors and airmen to serve. Now that we’re winding down a decade of war overseas, it’s critical that we spend some time preparing these heroes for the transition back to civilian life. Over the next five years, the Department of Labor will help more than 1 million transitioning service members find jobs when they come home. We’re helping them with job search strategies and resume writing, and showing them how to market their world-class military training to secure good-paying civilian jobs.
Every day, the Labor Department is working to help employers recruit veterans to fill open positions and to go out into local communities to make the case for hiring veterans. America’s veterans are dependable, hardworking and loyal. Teamwork and commitment to the mission at hand are hard-wired into their DNA. They’ve received world-class training from one of the most demanding organizations in the world and been tested in pressure-cooker situations that few of us can imagine.
Those who fight to protect our freedoms abroad should not have to fight for jobs when they come home. They deserve a chance to use their unique skills to help re-grow our economy. So this Veterans Day, I encourage employers to make the commitment to put our veterans to work for them. It’s an act of patriotism that’s good for our country and good for their bottom line.
We’re also focused on doing more to assist our homeless veterans, including many women who’ve come home with unique combat-related problems. On any given night, tens of thousands of vets go to sleep on our streets and under our bridges. We’ve made huge progress in reducing the number of homeless veterans by focusing on affordable housing first. Once they have shelter, we’re helping them find clothing, transportation, medical referrals and jobs. No service member should ever have to come home to homelessness, and with good civilian careers waiting for them, they won’t.
As we all prepare for Veterans Day, my message to our veterans is: We’re here for you. And our work will not be done until everyone who has worn the uniform can find civilian jobs worthy of their heroic sacrifice.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Veteran of WW II, ending. Also 6 additional years in 79th Infantry, Active Reserve.
Now 82 Double Amputee, Active!
It feels great to see Our Great Country paying attention to the Needs and Future of
these Young Veterans as well as “us Old Ones!”
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Thanks for the work you do, Secretary Hilda. When you say that your message to veterans is “we’re here for you,” we know it’s more true because of the lowered rate of unemployment for veterans than the general population. Working with the Vietnam Veterans of America, Pick Up Please now features an infographic with other significant stats about our veterans. It would be an honor if you checked it out and shared it with others who want to know more about our veterans!
I agree completely! Lets honor them by giving them the respect to care for their families that sacrificed for what they did for our country as well. What are our vets coming home to now?