RSSCURRENT VETERAN EMPLOYMENT ISSUES
Speech by
Theodore Lewis Daywalt
CEO and President
VetJobs.com, Inc
Marietta, GA
to
National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs
at
NASDVA MidWinter Training Conference
4:15 pm, Wednesday, February 27, 2007
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Room 124
Washington, DC
CURRENT VETERAN EMPLOYMENT ISSUES
Good afternoon, first let me first thank you for the opportunity to come before the NASDVA to discuss employment issues facing veterans in the workforce today.
Overall, the employment picture for veterans is good. The average unemployment rate for veterans is less than 4%, which compares very good with the national unemployment rate. But there are some issues and problems that are hindering our veteran community as they enter or re-enter the civilian workplace.
These problems come from several sources.
First, with having an all volunteer military for 36 years, we now have two generations of people in this country who have no idea about what goes on in the military or the skill sets that military people bring to an employer.
As a former drilling Navy reservist who retired after 30 years of active and reserve service, and as a businessman with 28 years of significant senior level civilian work experience, I feel I can bring a unique perspective to the problems our veterans are facing. I have had the advantage of seeing these issues from the perspective of a reserve component member trying to balance a civilian career with my military obligation, and as an employer. And at VetJobs we deal with the employment issues facing members of the National Guard and Reserve on a daily basis.
VetJobs is the leading military related job board on the Internet. After nine years,
As each of you know from your work in your states, small and medium sized companies, including small municipal organizations, bear the largest strain when their employees are called up for service in the National Guard or Reserve. These employers have no legal or financial recourse for compensation for their losses when their employees are called to active service.
Traditional tax breaks take too long to be of any assistance to the small employer. That is why I strongly recommend direct cash reimbursement for the costs these employers must bear to hire temporary labor while their employee is called to service. This is just a cost of doing business if we are going to continue to use the National Guard and Reserve beyond the traditional use for which they were established.
I would also like to emphasize the concept of providing year round full health, dental and eye care to participating members and the families of the National Guard and Reserve. This would be a tremendous benefit for employers who want to hire National Guard and Reserve members. This would also be a major recruiting tool for the National Guard and Reserve. And this program is not all that expensive when compared to what is currently being provided to members of the National Guard and Reserve who are activated.
In the written testimony I provided data from studies by Business Law Reports (BLR), Workforce Management and the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) that clearly indicate that there is resistance by Corporate America to the way their employees are now being used by DOD. One study indicated that 54% of the companies surveyed would NOT hire an active member of the National Guard or Reserve. While the findings of these studies are abhorrent to me, as a senior executive in civilian business, the findings are also understandable.
You see, companies have a fudiciary responsibility to their shareholders and owners to run an efficient and profitable operation. Companies can not do so if they can not count on having their employees, their human capital, being readily available. And companies rightfully consider the employees to be their human capital, not DOD’s human capital. While for anyone who has been in civilian senior management this is just common sense, those making the decisions on how to utilize the National Guard and Reserve at DOD seem to have missed what Corporate America is saying.
Yet, with the BLR, Workforce Management and SHRM studies, and the re-employment of National Guard and Reserve personnel concerns being expressed constantly by all the major VSOs and even with the multitude of press articles on the subject, senior level decision makers in the Office of Personnel and Readiness at DOD seem bent on refusing to admit there is a problem. This denial of reality is disturbing.
We should take a look at why the National Guard and Reserve are being used beyond their traditional role. It comes from needing boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the fact that recruiting is suffering. There are some ways to fix this.
In the short-term, conduct a recall (voluntary or mandatory) of retired military and/or recruit retired military back to active duty. There are several hundred thousand in this pool. I hear regularly from people in their 40s and 50s who recruiters tell they are not eligible since they have retired. These people would more than willingly volunteer to come back. This is a highly trained reservoir of talent that could be mobilized quickly if we can make a quick change in the law and the recruiting force can get the word out. This reservoir of talent could cut down on the need to activate the Guard and Reserve so frequently.
In the long-term, let foreigners join the military as a way to citizenship. This was done very successfully to meet Army recruiting numbers in the 1920s. The United States has twenty million or more illegal aliens in the United States right now. Such a move would give you the troops needed in the Army and Marine Corps, while also teaching the illegal aliens how to become good citizens, learn the language and pick up skills needed by industry. This would also address a political issue dealing with illegal aliens in the workforce.
The country and DOD needs to act quickly to rectify the situation regarding the frequent use of the National Guard and Reserve. At a press conference on January 11, Dr. David Chu, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, was quoted as saying: The fact that some with previous Iraq experience will end up spending more than 24 months on active duty is no “big deal.” This cavalier attitude towards Corporate America is damaging to DOD in its efforts to maintain good relations with companies. That one comment negated much of the fine work done by ESGR and VETS.
Since the announcement of the policy and its various revisions I have had the opportunity to confidentially talk with hundreds of human resource managers and senior executives with brand name companies. Uniformly, they say they can not support the way DOD now uses the National Guard and Reserve with the long call-ups. And without the support of Corporate America, the citizen soldier concept in America can not work. With all due respect to Dr. Chu, it is a big deal. DOD needs to face reality and quit denying the truth.
George Orwell once said, “We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” The American public and especially the Congress needs to understand the importance of Orwell’s comments in today’s world.
The Public and Congress needs to be supporting the National Guard and Reserve. These members are part of our front line of protection against those who would do the United States harm and deserve our full support while on active duty and when they return.
Thank you for your time.
This concludes my testimony.
I welcome any questions.
Theodore (Ted) L. Daywalt
CEO and President
VetJobs.com, Inc.
P. O. Box 71445
Marietta, GA 30007-1445
770-993-5117 (o)
877-838-5627 (877-Vet-Jobs)
tdaywalt@vetjobs.com