From service to Starbucks: Businesses seeking to hire vets, spouses

Photo by flickr user imacgyv0r

The fighting doesn’t always end for U.S. soldiers returning from war: finding a civilian job after completing military service can be its own hard battle. But many U.S. companies are undertaking pointed efforts to hire veterans.

The most recent company to launch a veteran-hiring plan is coffeehouse giant Starbucks, which announced on Wednesday that it would be hiring 10,000 military veterans and spouses over the next 5 years. Starbucks now joins the ranks of UPS, JPMorgan, and Walmart, which have all initiated plans to hire more veterans.

The push for these plans comes in the midst of a relatively high unemployment rate for veterans. According to the most recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the September 2013 unemployment rate for the general population was 7.2 percent, but the unemployment rate for veterans who have served since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks was at 10.1 percent.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who now sits on the board of directors for Starbucks, was one of the key players in pushing this initiative through. He believes that veterans have unique communication, leadership and problem-solving skills that Starbucks can take advantage of.

“One of the most significant challenges our veterans face is a corporation’s inability to understand and translate the skills of military service into a meaningful private sector role,” said Gates. “Veterans and military spouses represent one of the most underutilized talent pools in our country and, without the proper career path, will continue to go untapped.”

H/T Sarah Corapi