A careful look at the latest Bureau of Labor data will show which industries are hiring more veterans–and that’s good news for the estimated 850,000 U.S. veteran’s still searching for employment.
According to an article recently published by Stars and Stripes, veterans may have the best luck finding employment in government agencies, transportation, maintenance, installation or security work.
Veterans preference laws give former military personnel an edge when it comes to competitive government jobs. Nearly 2.3 million veterans work in federal, state and local posts. That’s more than 12 percent of government jobs nationwide.
Nearly 80 percent of those veteran-held government jobs are through the Department of Defense, Veteran Affairs or Homeland Security. The Departments of Justice and Interior, the Departments of Treasury and Agriculture also added a notable number of veteran held positions.
State and local government jobs made up about one in eight jobs held by veterans last year.
Nearly one in 10 veterans employed today works for a freight or transportation firm, almost double the rate of civilians. At U.S. rail companies, one in five employees is likely to be a veteran.
Transportation jobs often require strong technical knowledge and some physical labor, areas where veterans are better suited than many civilian applicants. Some of the opportunities for veterans in the transportation industry include: track construction, logistical work, engine maintenance and heavy-duty equipment operation — all skills that mirror many military job specialties.
Working with technology, communications, radio or IT data skills prepares veterans coming out of the service to find work with home electronics or communication service providers. Many communication-related maintenance and installation companies, such as AT&T or Best Buy, now offer special training specifically for veterans.
According to Department of Labor statistics, more than 800,000 veterans have found work as maintenance and installation technicians, plumbers and electricians, telecommunications specialists, automotive repairmen and other craft workers.
Department of Labor statistics also show that protective service jobs have grown by 35 percent over the last decade–due in part because of cutbacks to local law enforcement jobs. That has forced many companies to look to private contractors for security help and many are turning to veterans to help fill that gap.
________________________
VeteranOwnedBusiness.com and the Veteran Owned Business Directory are simply providing information we feel is of interest to veterans, active duty military, reservists, service disabled veterans, veteran owned businesses, service disabled veteran owned businesses, families of veterans, families of our armed forces and any other person or persons directly or indirectly involved with the United States military.
If your business is (or you know of another business) owned by a veteran (VOB), active duty military, reservist, service disabled veteran (SDVOSB) or military spouse of the United States, Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard or National Guard, please be sure to visit the VeteranOwnedBusiness.com sign up page to get your free listing.The objective of our FREE Veteran Owned Business Directory is to continue to offer a growing list of products and services that are unique in the fact that they are all owned by, sold by and/or serviced by past and present military members.