Expert: Young vets unemployment could reach 50% - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Expert: Young vets unemployment could reach 50%

The unemployment rate for young combat veterans — especially National Guard and reserve members — could reach 50 percent in the next two years, warns a veterans employment expert.

Ted Daywalt, president and chief executive officer of VetJobs.com, said the unemployment rate for veterans age 18 to 24 is 31 percent, far greater than the 7.7 percent jobless rate for veterans of all ages, and likely to get worse because young veterans face hurdles in a weak economy.

“The high unemployment rate is a direct result of their participation in the National Guard and reserve, and the current call-up policy,” he said. “Due to the constant activation of the National Guard, upwards of 65 percent of employers will not now hire as a new employee anyone who is an active member of the National Guard.”

People separating completely from the military “are for the most part finding employment,” although it can be a long process, Daywalt said. But if a veteran remains active in the National Guard, they are having “a difficult time finding meaningful employment.”

Most employers, he said, “are risk averse.”

Reserve members also face problems finding work, he said, but perhaps to a slightly lesser degree than guard members because employers are not concerned about reserve members being mobilized for local emergencies.

Things could get worse for younger guardsmen, he said, if the active-duty military makes large personnel cuts because those veterans have a better shot at finding jobs.

Daywalt testified before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s economic opportunity panel.

Emily DeRocco, president of the nonprofit Manufacturing Institute, said there are jobs out there. A survey last year found 80 percent of domestic manufacturers reported moderate to serious shortages of skilled workers, a problem projected to worsen, she noted.

Brig. Gen. Marianne Watson, the National Guard Bureau’s manpower and personnel director, said more study is needed to understand the unemployment rate for young veterans. “For example, we are finding a number of these service members were high school students before they deployed, so they do not have jobs waiting for them.”