While the U.S. pulls out the last of its troops from Iraq, a new difficulty back home begins: Finding jobs for thousands of returning veterans.

 

With the Iraq occupation over and Afghanistan expected to wind down as well in the near future, the American labor market will have to handle a million new job seekers, all veterans, over the next five years.

 

Even now, unemployment is a serious a problem for ex-soldiers, with the jobless rate for those aged 20 to 24 averaging 30% this year. Things aren’t much better for reservists, with more than one-in-five out of work.

 

A number of factors work against vets and members of the Army Reserve. Many lack college education, and some employers are hesitant to hire qualified applicants either because of worries about post-traumatic stress troubles or, in the case of reservists, that they’ll get called back into service.

 

The federal government is trying to do its part to help, by hiring a higher percentage of veterans. Former service members represented 28.5% of all federal hires in fiscal 2011, an increase of 2.9% over FY 2010 and 4.5% over FY 2009, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

As Wars End, Young Veterans Return to Scant Jobs (by Shaila Dewan, New York Times)

Veteran Hires in Federal Government Hit 20-Year High (by Steve Vogel, Washington Post)