Summary

Offers introductory data on veterans’ performance in the civilian labor market as well as a discussion of veteran-targeted federal programs that provide employment-related benefits and services.

Description

Employment trends among veterans and current employment-related programs for veterans are discussed in this report. The first section presents data on veterans’ employment outcomes, identifying recent trends, and discussing issues to consider when interpreting veterans’ employment data. The second section presents brief discussions of existing programs that provide employment-related services to veterans. These services are divided into (1) general programs that are broadly available to veterans, (2) programs that target veterans with service-connected disabilities, and (3) competitive grant programs that provide additional employment-related services to veterans but may be limited in scope or availability. (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

Major Findings & Recommendations

Estimates from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) derived from the Current Population Survey (CPS) were used to identify employment trends among three groups of workers: (1) Gulf War II veterans that served at any point after September 2011;(2) veterans from prior service periods, and (3) non-veterans. Employment trends related to these groups indicated that Gulf War II Veterans had the highest unemployment rates (at 9.9%), while Non-Veterans had an unemployment rate of 7.9% and other Veterans had the lowest rate at 6.0%. Gulf War II veterans also trended higher in unemployment over time than other veterans and non-veterans.

Various employment-related programs, benefits, and services for veterans were described. These included descriptions and funding levels for the Transition Assistance Program (TAP)/Transition Goals Plans Success (GPS), education benefits from the GI Bill, Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP), Local Veterans Employment Representatives (LVER), Federal hiring preference and special hiring authorities, Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), and priority of service in DOL training programs. (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)