Why You Should Hire a Veteran in the New Year

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As the US military continues to downsize in 2015, a large number of veterans are now entering the civilian workforce. As a business owner or manager, there are a ton of reasons why you should consider hiring a veteran in the coming year. Military veterans have years of excellent training and exceptional skills. They also tend to have a work ethic that exceeds that of many cilivians. And, because of their prior military experience, they’re also excellent at working in teams, and officers are often excellent at managing people and materials. Veteran employees tend to have a lower turnover rate than civilian hires.

Veterans are increasingly looking for great positions in a variety of fields. Many of those industries are in high demand around the Holidays and the New Year, as well as throughout the rest of the year. Hiring veterans is almost always a smart move as their military service taught them a wide array of skills and the experience they gained while serving our country is of great value. Needless to say, veterans are often stand-out candidates.

Why Hire Veterans In The New Year?

Unfortunately, many veterans go unemployed after their military service. In fact, the unemployment rate for veterans is about two points higher than the country’s average. A myriad of initiatives – both public and private – exist to help reverse this trend though. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has a program called Hire Our Heroes that provides resources for employers looking to hire veterans, including their Employer Roadmap website.

Various websites also have dedicated pages that are tailored to the needs of veterans when it comes to job searching. LinkedIn, one of the best social platform for professionals, is one of them. Other initiatives such as Troops to Energy Jobs also play a big role in helping veterans get back on the market.

The Holiday season and the New Year are great times to hire veterans. Not only are hiring budgets being decided for the coming year, there are also a few financial incentives such as tax credits offered by some states for businesses to hire veterans. Check with your tax advisor or state revenue department to find out what tax benefits are available and what you need to do as an employer to qualify for them. While federal tax credits were discontinued by Congress in 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor is still advising employers to keep track of and report veteran hires in case the tax breaks are renewed in the future.

Veterans leaving active duty also have their relocation expenses covered, which means you can tap into a larger recruiting pool without added cost. They also have their health care taken care of, reducing employment costs.

The plethora of resources available for finding and hiring veterans means that it’s more cost-effective to recruit veteran employees in the coming year. And as an added bonus, they can greatly improve your brand’s image, both inside and outside of the military community.

What Sectors Are Best Suited For Veterans?

Military veterans have a wide range of skills and experience, often making them the perfect choice to fill demanding positions. There are various industries and fields that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hire more veterans than other industries.

Here are a few job verticals that may be best suited for military veterans according to the BLS: protective services, construction, transportation services, sales, management, and business & finances. Of course other industries such as IT, engineering and healthcare also recruit and hire a good number of veterans based on their expertise, education, and skills.

Hiring veterans, especially in the New Year, is a safe bet that can yield extremely good results for your company. Not only are you contributing to putting those trained workers back into the workforce, you are also helping our economy and give veterans opportunities that only they can fill due to their experience in the military.

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