The jobless rate for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is rising. According to an article in USA Today, the jobless rate has grown to 11.2% for veterans of those wars. It has risen 4% over the last year and is significantly higher than the 8.8% rate for non-veterans in the same age group.
The article says that veterans often have trouble translating their skills to the civilian job market:
“Young veterans, Walker says, often have trouble ‘translating their military skills into skills on their resume that employers recognized.’
…
Robert Pearson, 23, of Minneapolis, is a former paratrooper who served in Afghanistan. He says it’s hard to find work as a human resources manager in order to use the skills he learned managing soldiers as a combat team leader.”
As it turns out, this is something that “counter-recruiters” have been pointing out for years. Those working to dissuade youth from joining the military have long argued that military skills–and recruiters promises of job training–rarely pan out.
Over the years, various studies have found that veterans earn less than non-veterans and that few veterans make use of their military skills in civilian jobs.
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