On Sunday 12th May, the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes highlighted a new initiative to put recently returning Veterans back in the workplace.
The show focused mainly on Disabled Veterans and a program sponsored in part by Pepsi Co. and Wal-Mart to help Veterans become entrepreneurs and business owners (Wal-Mart plans to hire 100,000 Veterans over the next five years). The report also argued that not enough is being done by the Government to link returning Veterans into the civilian workforce and more importantly, not enough is being done to pair them to jobs for which they are suitably qualified.
According to the report, three million Americans served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and half of returning Vets have a disability because of their service. Additionally, more soldiers committed suicide in 2012 than were killed by the enemy.
With proposed hiring/employment goals of Veterans in the near future for Federal Contractors, and rising numbers of returning Vets, it is anticipated that greater pressure will be put upon Contractors to hire those who served their country.
The recording of this 60 Minutes news report can be found at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50146678n.