Irvine, Calif. — “The existing candidate glut, primarily created by the recession, will soon be flooded with nearly one million vets with the pull back of troops by the U.S. military around the globe, ” says Kim Shepherd, CEO of Decision Toolbox, a nationwide provider of project based hiring and on-demand Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO).
“For younger troops, aged 18-24 years old, the unemployment rate is currently 13.1% for males and 21.6% for females – – nearly double and triple the unemployment numbers respectively for non-veterans. Adding to the list of challenges felt by young vets is their apparent lack of job experience, career direction, and low confidence in their ability to thrive in the civilian workforce,” continues Shepherd.
Shepherd says though many companies may be theoretically committed to hiring vets, they are not sure how to find them, how their skills are transferable to available opportunities, or how to integrate and support them once hired. For jobs requiring lower skill levels such as truck drivers, assembly workers, and welders, the military is a natural source to pull from due to key skills required to be a successful infantry soldier — discipline, reliability, ability to follow directions and complete tasks, and loyalty, to name a few.
“For officers, returning to the employment marketplace is equally daunting. I recently had the honor of speaking with 100 colonels and generals at Camp Pendleton in Carlsbad, California about their impending return to the civilian workforce,” says Shepherd. “They, too, are not sure how they fit in, and tend to think they need to take a step down to managerial jobs upon their return. However, the truth of the matter is, these are not managers, these are leaders. They have the unique ability to strategize, and to mentor and motivate others in the most challenging and uncertain circumstances — this is not management, this is leadership.”
Hiring organizations must realize the transferable nature of these skills to the business world and the incredible value these vets can bring to their leadership teams, concludes Shepherd.
About Decision Toolbox (DT)
Founded in 1992, Decision Toolbox provides scalable and easily integrated recruitment solutions for a 7% cost per hire on average while incorporating rigorous quality controls and a twelve-month candidate guarantee. Armed with the very latest tools and a team of seasoned US-based Recruiters and Sourcers, Decision Toolbox is an on-demand recruiting department for one critical search, for large projects, or a complete RPO/RPI solution. Decision Toolbox has taken a leadership role in almost every aspect of recruitment, introducing an RPO offering in 2000, four years before it became industry practice. DT is recognized as a “Thought Leader” by organizations such as SHRM, PIHRA, and the NHRA, and was awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility in 2009 and 2011. DT is a Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) certified company, the Gold Standard. WBENC Certification validates that the business is 51 percent owned, controlled, operated, and managed by a woman or women.