Part III – Veterans in the Workforce

PART III

Veterans in the Workforce

United States service members face many challenges during their time in the military—and many more when trying to transition back to the civilian workforce.

Minnesotan veterans are no different. The state is currently home to about 370,000 veterans, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, with about 6,900 veterans in the nine-county south central Minnesota area (which includes Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, Le Sueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca and Watonwan counties).

Two of the most pressing challenges facing veterans are unemployment and homelessness.

Whereas veterans faced high levels of unemployment in the early 2000s, their unemployment rate at the end of 2014 had declined to 5 percent (more than a one percent drop from 2013), even lower than the country’s 5.5 percent rate. In Minnesota, the number is even lower—4.9 percent—though it’s markedly higher than the state’s unemployment rate of 3.9 percent. However, the unemployment rate for veterans in the south central region of Minnesota is a disheartening 7.7 percent, according to the MN Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), almost double the area’s overall unemployment rate.

The unemployment rate is worst for post-Gulf War veterans, particularly those who served after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. For veterans who served within the past 14 years, the national unemployment rate was 7.2 percent by the end of 2014, with women facing a larger percentage rate (8.5 percent) compared to men (at 6.9 percent), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Throughout Minnesota, the unemployment rate for veterans from this period is 8.8 percent (a significant drop from 14.1 percent in 2013), one of the highest rates in the country.

Of course, not all Minnesota veterans are actively looking for jobs at the moment. More than half of Minnesota veterans (183,000) weren’t participating in the state’s labor force at the end of 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Part of this is because veterans are closer to retirement age than not (the Department of Veterans Affairs calculates that the average veteran is 56.8 years old), and the Star Tribune reported in 2014 that about 20,000 of the state’s veterans were indeed retired. (It also mentioned that Minnesota is consistently ranked in the bottom half of states for veterans to retire, but that is the topic of another article.)

In addition to struggles with unemployment, veterans (like many Minnesotans) struggle to find affordable housing. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), about 50,000 veterans are homeless every night—making up 16 percent of the adult homeless population. The numbers are more promising in Minnesota, where only 317 veterans were found to be experiencing homelessness in 2014, according to the MN Department of Veterans Affairs (a drop of 47 percent from 2000).

Nationwide, another 1.4 million veterans are considered at risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks and living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that about 340,000 veterans rely on federal or state rental assistance, while about 900,000 veterans live on food stamps.

Supporting Our Veterans

Several organizations across southern Minnesota work to assist veterans looking to return to the workforce and earn a living wage. One of the most notable is the Minnesota Workforce Center, which has locations in Mankato, New Ulm and Fairmont. While the center’s work isn’t only focused on veterans, it does place a priority on helping former service members with whatever they need, be it finding a job or connecting with support networks.

According to Field Operations Area Manager Reggie Worlds, who is a veteran himself, the center works with veterans every day. Some veterans come into the center only once, perhaps to learn about what jobs are available in the area, while others can work with center employees for several months and receive more in-depth support. Not everyone comes in looking for a job; the center also helps veterans find emotional, psychological, medical and financial support by connecting them to area partners such as Lutheran Social Services and the Veterans Administration.

When it comes to helping veterans find jobs, Worlds said the trick is to figure out how their military experience can translate to the civilian world. That’s where Katie McNair, with the workforce’s Disabled Veterans Outreach Program, comes in—helping veterans rewrite their military experience into resume bullet-points that H.R. departments can understand. Once employers know how the military experience applies to the civilian world, it’s easier for them to hire qualified veterans—who can make some of the best employees, according to Worlds.

“Veterans bring a unique set of skills to the job,” Worlds said. “The military is the best training ground in the world, where service members learn self-discipline and technical training under high-level expectations. These are things employers are looking for: being on time, being dedicated to the job, having a strong work ethic.”

Veterans Service Representative Barry Platt said that veterans can find jobs in any industry, though some of the more popular ones have been transportation, food services and manufacturing. He works to connect veterans to businesses that need workers, spreading the word about available opportunities.

“We’re trying to find the perfect fit for the veteran and the employer,” he said, adding that businesses across southern Minnesota have been very supportive about hiring veterans.

One business that strives to hire veterans is Wal-Mart, which launched a program called “Veterans Welcome Home” in 2013. Through this program, the company offers a job in either Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club to any qualified veteran or spouse of a veteran who has been honorably discharged since Memorial Day 2013. (Originally, the veteran had to have served within the last 12 months, but the time period was pushed back to accommodate more job seekers.) More than 103,000 new veteran employees have been hired since the program started, and the company’s goal is to hire 250,000 veterans by 2020.

Wal-Mart’s Senior Director of Military Programs, Gary Profit, said that the program is set up to offer veteran applicants priority when they apply—though the ultimate hiring decision is still based on a candidate’s merits. Still, Profit said veterans have no trouble there.

“These are very talented people, arguably drawn from the largest diverse talent pool in the world,” he explained. “This is not about establishing quotas. This is about giving people what they’ve earned by virtue of their service. They find opportunity here, and we relish working with them.”

There are two tracks for veteran job seekers: a “job” path that is usually seen as temporary work and a “career” path for someone interested in staying longer. So far, more than 9,000 veteran employees have been promoted to managers.

Wal-Mart also provides training opportunities for these veterans, including the Veteran Championship Program, which connects new hires to fellow veterans who have more Wal-Mart experience. This sponsorship program helps the new hires ease into their job and become comfortable.

In addition to the training opportunities, Wal-Mart is also committed to helping military spouses keep their careers if they’re forced to move because of a relocation.

As Worlds mentioned, other business owners are also reaching out to veteran job seekers, especially because of veterans’ reputations as good employees. Matt Gunderson, former Marine and owner of the Madelia Lumber Company, manages a team of almost all veteran employees and says their attention to detail and work ethic is a large part of why his business is so successful.

“Without a doubt, they are the best workers,” he said.

Targeting Veterans’ Skills

Another resource for Minnesota veterans is recent legislation that established a pilot veterans-to-agriculture program at the Southern Minnesota Center of Agriculture at South Central College in North Mankato. The idea behind the bill was to find ways for veterans to take skills they learned in the military, such as fixing diesel engines and using GPS mapping systems, and plug them into the agriculture industry—which has been seeing a shortage of workers lately. Each training session will take four to eight weeks to finish and result in a certificate of completion. Senator Kathy Sheran and Representative Clark Johnson wrote the bill, which requested $750,000 for the next two years ($150,000 in 2016 and $600,000 in 2017) to coordinate the program and organize projects at six other colleges. At the end of 2017, the program will be evaluated for success, with SCC looking into how many veterans utilized the program and went on to find jobs in the agriculture industry.

“It’s good for rural Minnesota,” Sheran said. “We have lots of needs in agricultural employment, and our veterans have needs because of the high unemployment rate. [This program]… can help move veterans who need work into the ag industry and can help the ag industry fill needs they have.”

In addition to the academic training, the program will also include job development programs and outreach to employers.

Working On Education

For veterans who want to return to school after leaving the service, many area colleges offer their support.

At South Central College, veterans are able to receive technical credit for military experience as part of a program growing across all schools within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system. While SCC has only been working within this program for six months, it is already in the top three colleges for the number of courses that are aligned to receive credit for experience. In addition, MnSCU has set up an online portal where veterans can look up what credits they will receive where for their experience, helping them choose the best school for them.

“We’ve very purposeful in the things we create so that veterans are taken care of,” said Deann Schloesser, veteran liaison, VA Certifying Official and Assistant Registrar at SCC. “We’re not ‘giving’ them anything. They’ve already earned it. We’re just recognizing and respecting that.”

SCC also works with David Schrader, a southeast regional coordinator for the MN Department of Veterans Affairs. Schrader splits office hours between SCC and Minnesota State University, Mankato, as well as working with other parts of the region. He helps students figure out their benefits, including the Minnesota G.I. Bill, which recently was expanded beyond post-9/11 veterans to any veteran in Minnesota who has served and meets certain qualifications.

Veterans at SCC will also be able to participate in the new “Learn. Work. Earn.” program that SCC is working to create through the Minnesota Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (MNAMP), a MnSCU consortium of 12 colleges and two Centers of Excellence. SCC led the way in securing a $15 million federal grant, which helped set up a structure for advanced manufacturing training with standardized core curriculum and employer-driven apprenticeships. Participating students can simultaneously earn industry-recognized credentials at a MnSCU school while working for an employer, and veterans are one of four targeted groups within the program.

Other area colleges and universities also have support systems in place for veteran students. Minnesota State University, Mankato is home to the Veterans Resource Center, which connects students to different partners, such as the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans, as well as working with them to prepare for the job market once they graduate. Schrader said the center is so well used, he’s trying to set up outside activities so that more veterans can have access to the support offered through it. He also hopes to create a career mentoring program that would link student veterans to veterans who have found positions in the same career field.

“Our goal is to be a space where veterans can go to let their guard down,” Schrader said. “If you provide a way for veterans to connect with each other, they’re going to help each other.”

Sean Eastling is a student veteran at MSU in his last year of study. He joined the National Guard nine years ago, deployed for a year to Kosovo in 2007 and plans to stay in for a full 20-year career. However, he also recently began working at Northwestern Mutual and will work there full-time once he graduates.

Eastling said it can be difficult for veterans to transition back into civilian life, especially if they’ve been deployed, since they lose the routine of military life. He said resuming college classes was a challenge, since he was jumping into college at a different stage of life and with a different perspective than most of his fellow students. To ease that transition, he turned to the Veterans Resource Center, which he said helped him greatly during his time at MSU.

“It’s a support thing,” he said. “If you’re there, and you’ve got a question, you’ll find the answer in a day or two.”