Industry News
Disabled Vets Find New Opportunities in Labor Market
What do you get when you combine
the coming surge in retirees with nearly full employment? You get more opportunities
for disabled veterans.
More than $14 billion in public funds are invested annually
in training and educating service members, said Debra Ruh, president and founder
of TecAccess, which works with veteran retraining and placement. Ruh was a speaker
at a recent webinar hosted by the Job Accommodation Network (JAN).
Ruh told participants
that the U.S. Department of Labor reports an estimated 6 million veterans with disabilities
in the United States and that more than 200,000 veterans are predicted to enter
the workforce each year. According to Ruh, veterans are a rich source of talent.
Employers concerned about filling job openings should consider recruiting from this
sometimes-overlooked group of highly skilled workers.
According to Ruh, Fortune
1000 companies are beginning to realize that veterans with disabilities can fill
the predicted labor shortage and that many companies already include people with
disabilities among their diversity strategies.
Private employers who want to learn
how they can tap into this resource should contact the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs programs, Hire Vets First, and the Employer Assistance and Recruiting Network
(EARN) to develop partnerships aimed at hiring veterans.
Beginning with the 2007
tax year, employers can take advantage of the employer tax credit of up to $600
per veteran hired. Employers can claim the tax credit on their 2008 returns.
To
learn more, go to Society of Human Resource Managers web site at www.shrm.org
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