Daniel M. Semsel hears the perception often.
The director of the veterans employment services program at Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley said about one in three employers he deals with inquire about post-traumatic stress disorder and veterans. The program assists about 250 veterans a year looking for jobs.
“Of the veterans that come through my program, PTSD is by far the most common disability I see,” said Semsel, a retired Air Force colonel formerly stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. “There’s definitely a stigma with PTSD that unfortunately can be a barrier to employment.”
PTSD is treatable, experts say. Semsel, who deployed overseas multiple times in his career, said some employers are overcautious.
“I think a lot of that comes from exposure PTSD has received in the media,” he said. “People are a lot more comfortable talking about it now, but I think the biggest fear that a lot of employers may have is they’re afraid somebody is just going to go completely off, and I have not seen that anywhere.
“My feeling is I think employers are overcautious because it’s not like an amputation where you can see a visible scar,” he said.
Anyone at risk after trauma
Experts say post-traumatic stress hits employees at all levels, whether it’s surviving a car crash, a natural disaster, an assault or other traumatic occurrence – and not just veterans who were in combat.
Bill Wahl, manager of the post deployment Freedom Center for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at the Dayton VA Medical Center, has educated employers about what veterans experienced on deployment and on topics such as PTSD.
“The point is employers need education about this so it counterbalances the myths that are out there about what PTSD is about,” he said. “… You wouldn’t want to miss hiring someone who could be an outstanding contributor.”
VA estimates show PTSD afflicts one in five Iraq veterans and 11 percent of Afghanistan veterans, according to the National Institutes of Health. In fiscal year 2013, the VA treated 535,000 veterans of all eras, including 141,000 who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, for post-traumatic stress, the federal agency reported.
A LiveCareer survey of 1,153 respondents last year found 88.7 percent of veterans and active-duty service members respondents say PTSD or other mental injuries of war impact a job seeker’s chance at employment in the civilian workforce.
Even so, the online resume builder cited 92 percent who said their military experience makes them a better employee, and 60.8 percent expected their time in the military would help them in their job after life in uniform.
The survey found 93 percent of those surveyed said employers should be better educated about both PTSD and other non-physical disabilities, according to LiveCareer.
Fifty percent of respondents said it was difficult to translate their military skills into a resume while 16.4 percent said it was “very easy” to do so.
Nearly 89 percent of respondents said the military should be more active to help veterans find work.
Despite those concerns, veterans overall unemployment rate was below the national average of 5 percent in October. In Ohio, veterans’ unemployment stood at an estimated 3.9 percent, the same rate reported for veterans nationally, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Vet skills in demand
Veterans’ skills and work ethic are an in-demand commodity for many businesses.
Veteran Jobs Mission, a collaboration of more than 200 companies, launched a push this month to hire 1 million veterans. The employment drive, first dubbed 100,000 Jobs Mission, started in 2011 with 11 companies. The collaborative had hired nearly 300,000 veterans by Sept. 30, according to the organization.
Still, the organization noted unemployment rates remain high for the youngest veterans, estimated at 14.9 percent for those ages 20 to 24, and 6.9 percent for those ages 25 to 29.
“Our youngest veterans continue to face challenges finding work, so there is much more the Veteran Jobs Mission can do to tackle this problem,” Ross Brown, a JP Morgan and Chase & Co. director of military and veteran affairs, said in a statement. “With more than 200,000 servicemembers transitioning from active duty each year, employers must redouble efforts to make veterans’ transitions to civilian careers smoother.”
Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., which has 109 stores in the Cincinnati-Dayton area, hired more than 2,000 military veterans and their family members from its one-day Honoring our Heroes hiring event held on Sept. 15. Kroger hired 6,000 veterans in 2014 and has hire more than 32,000 veterans since 2009.
“Whether through our customer, associate and company support of the USO or creating career opportunities for transitioning service men and women, Kroger is dedicated to our nation’s active duty troops and 23 million military veterans and their families,” Lynn Marmer, Kroger’s group vice president for corporate affairs, said in a news release.
The Workforce Investment Board of Butler, Clermont and Warren Counties partnered with OhioMeansJobs centers in Butler and Warren counties to host a veterans hiring event Nov. 4 at Towne Mall Galleria in Middletown. Veterans who showed their military identification or veterans health identification card were provided with a “Hire a Vet” badge to display when meeting employers.
“The number one complaint from employers is the ability to find someone that shows up to work every day, on time, and has the ability to think creatively to overcome obstacles,” Adam Jones, administrator of the Workforce Investment Board of Butler, Clermont and Warren Counties, previously told the Journal-News. The three-county government agency sets workforce development program and spending policies. “Our veterans are instilled with this desired work ethic, respect for procedure and are trained to achieve their goals regardless of circumstance.”
The state of Ohio offers veterans a host of job finding tools at www.OhioMeansVeteransJobs.com.
The Center for Talent Innovation, a non-profit think tank in New York, this summer surveyed 1,022 military veterans who worked in white collar occupations and had opinions on veterans and employment issues.
“I think one of the top findings is despite the enormous investment that corporations are putting into recruiting veterans into civilian careers and succeeding … what we really find out is in this report once they get into corporations, veterans are tuning out and stalling out,” said Julia Taylor Kennedy, vice president and senior fellow at The Center for Talent and Innovation.
She and Abrams, the Marine veteran, co-authored the newly released book “Mission Critical: Unlocking the Value of Veterans in the Workforce.” Both live in New York.
The survey found 57 percent of veterans were not looking to rise to more senior level positions, and 39 percent were trying for a promotion, but felt stymied.
Nearly nine in 10 veterans consider themselves ambitious, the survey found.
Also, 49 percent of respondents said their colleagues had false assumptions about veterans, such as they have PTSD, are gun enthusiasts or have conservative political views, Kennedy said.
“We do find veterans do confront these assumptions in the workplace, and we also found veterans tend to downplay their military experience,” she said in a telephone interview.
Thirty percent of veterans had not disclosed a service-connected disability or injury, the survey said.
Only 2 percent of veterans reported they had sponsors, or senior level advocates at a civilian job.
Veterans have valuable technical and leadership skills they bring to an employer, Abrams and Kennedy said.
Among others: language fluency, social media skills, computer programming and information technology, accounting, statistical analysis, team building, mentoring, leadership and management skills.
“There’s a lot of soft skills you pick up in the military that you don’t get to pick up the corporate space,” said Abrams, who founded Four Block, a veteran support organization to help veterans make the transition into the business world. He continues to serve in the military reserve.
It’s rare for a veteran to transition from a military occupation, where they may have had a leadership role managing people, into an equivalent civilian job, he added.
“They have to start from the bottom in many instances in whatever career path they are choosing,” he said.
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