By Teresa Carlson, Vice President, Microsoft Federal
We shouldn’t wait for Veterans Day to thank our service men and women for the sacrifices they’ve made on behalf of our nation, but it’s great to have one day where we collectively honor them. I want to send a personal thank you to every U.S. military family. You are modern day heroes and the backbone of our country.
There are soldiers returning from Iraq right now, and while offering gratitude is important, we also must provide veterans with the resources they need to be productive members of the civilian workforce. There is an underreported crisis going on in our country right now – 10.6 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are unemployed, compared to 8.8 percent of nonveterans. Since 9/11, approximately 1.9 million troops have returned to civilian life, and over 190,000 are currently unemployed. That’s a shocking statistic. Times are tough for everyone, but they can be particularly tough for highly-skilled soldiers that are entering a new work environment that often requires a different set of competencies. The best way to say “thank you” to our service men and women is through skills-training to help make every veteran’s transition a successful one.
Over half of today’s jobs require technology skills, and that number is expected to dramatically rise over the next decade. Soldiers possess technology skills that many of us can only dream of having, but they also need support in translating that knowledge to new roles in the workforce. The USO of Metropolitan New York has launched an initiative to provide software and IT skills-training to veteran support groups across the country. In addition to training, these resources will be used for job placement, career counseling, and other services such as childcare, transportation and housing to help military families thrive as they make this challenging transition. I am proud to say Microsoft is supporting the USO’s effort and we encourage other technology companies to partner as well.
And for those veterans specifically interested in careers at Microsoft, we’ve also launched a site called WeStillServe.com that matches former military members to job opportunities within the company. The site has some cool tools, including a “Military Job Decoder” that deciphers appropriate roles at Microsoft based on previous military experience.
We all need to create paths of success for the folks that sacrifice the most for our nation. Military unemployment can’t be tolerated, and we need everyone to spread the word about this issue and the resources that are now available to returning veterans. The USO is among the leaders in this charge and we all need to get on board.