Shinseki Urges Industry to Keep Hiring Vets

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki urged the private sector to help lower the climbing unemployment rate among post-Sept. 11 veterans Wednesday, one day after President Obama proposed a new “Veterans Job Corps” in his State of the Union address.

Shinseki urged private companies to hire more veterans while he pledged to increase the percentage of veterans that make up the VA workforce from 30 to 40 percent.

The post-9/11 veteran unemployment rate has climbed to 13 percent, 4 percent higher than the national rate. It’s even worse for military spouses. More than a quarter of military spouses who want to work can’t find a job.

Obama challenged the private sector to hire 100,000 veterans in August 2011. Shinseki said the White House remains committed to that goal, expanding it to hire 135,000 veterans and their families.

Shinseki spoke at a federal symposium hosted by engineering giant Siemens, to commend the company for hiring 631 veterans since this summer – about 20 percent of the available jobs in the company.

“We’re committed to help veterans transition from the battle space to the work place,” Shinseki told the crowd of Siemens employees.

The U.S. military plans to significantly draw down the Army and Marine Corps, meaning more soldiers and Marines will be forced to find new careers. Army officials have said they could cut up to 80,000 soldiers from their end strength.

Obama said he intends to continue to increase funding for the VA to help soldiers make the transition out of uniform. The VA’s annual budget stands at $126 billion.

Shinseki wants more veterans to work for federal agencies. The VA launched a new website --VAforVets.gov – to help soldiers write their resumes and navigate the bureaucracy of landing a federal job.

The website places veterans in VA jobs to start, but the VA plans to extend the program to include other federal agencies this summer.

In Tuesday’s speech, Obama said his proposed Veterans Job Corps would help communities hire veterans for municipal jobs.

“I’m proposing a Veterans Jobs Corps that will help our communities hire veterans as cops and firefighters, so that America is as strong as those who defend her,” Obama said.