Military veterans' transition from active duty to civilian workplace employment

Workforce Development for Military Veterans in Corporate America

Corporate America wants to hire military veterans due to their unique leadership skill sets, but many military veterans are unable to transition into corporate because of different work values and briefs. The purpose of this research paper is to provide an academic analysis of this contemporary global issue in the areas of leadership and workforce development. To this end, the paper presents a proposed research topic followed by a review of the relevant literature concerning workforce development issues for military veterans. In addition, a discussion concerning the diversity and ethical perspectives involved is followed by a synthesis of the findings. Finally, the paper’s conclusion presents a summary of the research and the key findings that emerged from the literature review
Review and Discussion
Proposed Research Topic
The proposed research topic is, “How can civilian employers facilitate the transition from active duty military service to the civilian workplace?” This research topic is timely and important because the clock is ticking for veterans when they are discharged from active duty with respect to their earning an advanced degree or other training that may be needed to compete in the 21st century civilian workplace. For example, according to Anderson and Goodman (2014), “The separation from the military to civilian life can be a complex and challenging transition for today's returning veterans, and providing assistance with this transition is increasingly important, with more than 200,000 military personnel transitioning to civilian status each year” (p. 40).
Moreover, upon discharge, some veterans may not have any civilian employment experience whatsoever, and their entire career to date has been in the military. This means that these veterans may not know how to dress for work, how to treat their co-workers, or even what to call others in the workplace. Likewise, even highly trained and skilled veterans whose qualifications are in high demand may not understand how to fully apply these assets in civilian settings, making millions of veterans “strangers in a strange land” following their discharge from active military service.
Although the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers a wide range of vocational and employment services for veterans, there remains a dearth of transition programs and guidance for civilian employers concerning how best to help these employees make the transition from military service to the civilian workplace. This is not to say, of course, that all veterans are so many lost and helpless lambs in a hostile employment scenario, but it is to say that despite all they have to offer civilian employers, many veterans lack the knowhow and experience to successfully make the transition to the civilian workplace in a seamless fashion and these issues are examined further below.
Literature Review
One of the more baffling aspects of military veteran employment in the private sector is the fact that the percentage of unemployment veterans remains higher than the rate for nonveterans across the country (Gillums, 2016). For instance, according to Gillums (2016),”The unemployment rate among post-9/11 era veterans in 2013 was higher than the rate for nonveterans” (p.4). This persisting disparity in employment rates has perplexed researchers for decades since many veterans possess the skill sets that are in high demand in the private sector, and veterans are well known for their discipline and organizational loyalty. In this regard, Gillums (2016) notes that, “The question of why today's generation of highly trained veterans face higher average rates of unemployment than their civilian peers has confounded researchers, employers, and veteran advocates over the last few years” (p. 5).
While military veterans routinely experience transfers from one duty station to another and some may even have their career paths changed, this type of transitional experience has not proven effective in facilitating the transition to the civilian workplace (Robertson & Brott, 2014). Despite the ongoing efforts by the Department of Defense and the VA to ease the transition to the private sector, many veterans end up essentially lost as to how to proceed to secure meaningful employment and once they get it, they are ill prepared to keep it. For example, Robertson and Brott (2014) emphasize that, “While formal military programs are established to provide assistance with planning and overall logistics of such transitions, research suggests that veterans feel emotionally underprepared to manage the transition to civilian employment” (p. 140).
Compounding the problem for many veterans is the fact that they face some profoundly severe challenges during the transition to civilian life that may not be readily recognizable or understandable by nonveteran employers and co-workers (Robertson & Brott, 2014). Indeed, the results of a study by Syracuse University concerning the experiences of veterans returning from the Gulf Wars found that a majority of recently discharged veterans experienced significant problems in finding and keeping employment. For instance, according to Robertson and Brott (2014), “Most returning service members felt disconnected from civilian life, thought about their combat service at least once a week, believed veterans deserved special advantages when applying for jobs, and said the federal government failed in meeting the needs of the current generation of veterans” (p. 141).
While it is noteworthy that this study identified these failures among the “current generation of veterans,” the harsh reality has been that these same constraints to employment have been in place since the Vietnam War. While World War II veterans were received by civilian employers with open arms and most enjoyed the camaraderie of fellow veterans in their workplace, the situation over the past half century has been starkly different. For example, the Syracuse University study also found that a majority of the veteran respondents also identified significant constraints in their ability to secure meaningful employment. In this regard, Robertson and Brott (2014) add that, “The respondents' experiences reflect more than just barriers to successful transition and job placement. They also reveal areas in the life of a veteran that heighten the likelihood of failure in the search for gainful, rewarding employment” (p. 141. The areas identified by the veteran respondents in the Syracuse University study included (1) physical health; (2) mental wellness, (3) financial security, (4) awareness of resources, and (5) the need for effective veteran-specific support networks (Robertson & Brott, 2014). Therefore, these types of exceptional needs, most especially debilitating disorders, must be addressed first so that the efforts to help military veterans find and keep employment are more effective (Gillums, 2016).
Other research has identified some noteworthy differences in unemployment rates and causes for unemployment among military veterans returning from different deployments overseas as well as their disability status and gender. For instance, about 7% (or approximately 573,000) of veterans returning from the Gulf War regions were unemployed in 2014, and the majority of these unemployed veterans were aged 45 years or older; however, disability status and being female were the strongest predictors of unemployment for this veteran cohort (RAND Health, 2015). There are some other differences in the current veteran population that also have an effect on employment, including those discussed below.
Diversity Perspective
Although it is well documented that the U.S. armed forces are comprised of a diverse population, this fact has complicated efforts to identify optimal strategies for helping different groups of veterans with their employability. In this regard, researchers at RAND Health (2015) point out that, “The fact that the veteran population is diversified along race, gender, and disability lines, determining whether ‘veteran status’ is linked to unemployment can prove difficult if not impossible” (p. 4). Despite these constraints, the research to date confirms that some demographic segments of the veteran population are increasing while others are declining (RAND Health, 2015).
What is known for certain is that as of 2012, minorities represented about 20% of the active duty military male members, with the two largest minority groups being African Americans and Hispanics. As shown in Figure 1 below, the current estimates of the racial and ethnic breakdown of the 2014 veteran population in 2014 showed that about 13% were black but this estimate was projected to increase to around 18% by 2024. Likewise, the percentage of active duty Hispanics in the U.S. military was about 7% in 2014 but this percentage is expected to increase to approximately 8.5% by 2024 (RAND Health, 2015).

Figure 1. Race/ethnicity of the U.S. veteran population: 2014 to 2014 (projected)
Source: RAND Health, 2015, p. 33
There are also some other projected demographic trends over the next several years that will have an impact on veteran unemployment levels. For example, current projections indicate that the American veteran population will shrink to about 17.5 million in 2024, representing a 19% decline. This decline in the number of veterans is projected to continue as a result of aging and downsizing of the various military branches of service (RAND Health, 2015). At present, it is projected that the veteran population in the United States will decrease by 37% by 2033 to the extent that there are fewer than 15 million veterans (RAND Health, 2015).
These trends will also have some corresponding effects on the demographic composition of the living veteran population in the United States. For example, according to RAND Health (2015), by 2033, “the proportion of veterans who are non-Hispanic white will decline slightly, from 80 percent in 2014 to 76 percent by 2024” (p. 10). In addition, the racial and ethnic composition of veterans also differs by age cohort, with younger Gulf War-era veterans more likely to be racially and ethnically diverse compared to previous veteran cohorts (RAND Health, 2016).
While the precise impact of these demographic changes remains unclear at present, it is reasonable to posit that the current cohort of military veterans will suffer from a competitive disadvantage in the civilian workplace compared to their non-veteran counterparts as a result of problems in securing employment and maintaining it beyond the average 18 months for new veteran hires (King, 2011).
Ethical Perspective
While many Americans “support the troops” as evidenced by the proliferation of American flags and pro-military bumper stickers across the country, some might question whether the United States has an ethical obligation to help people secure and maintain meaningful employment simply because they wore a military uniform at some point in the past. Although it is true that military recruiters do not make this specific promise to potential recruits, the United States committed to helping people who serve their country in the armed forces a century and a half ago. In fact, the formal mission of the VA is taken from Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address delivered in March 1865 wherein the nation promised, “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan” (VA mission, 2019).
To its credit, the VA has made enormous strides in improving both the quality as well as the accessibility of health care services, including the specialized mental health treatments that are needed by many veterans following their discharge from active duty (Morris, 2017). Nevertheless, more than a dozen veterans continue to take their own lives every day, and countless others suffer in silence as they soldier through the stressful transition to civilian life. For example, the key findings that emerged from a recent study by the VA (2019) showed that: The number of Veteran suicides exceeded 6,000 each year from 2008 to 2017. Among U.S. adults, the average number of suicides per day rose from 86.6 in 2005 to 124.4 in 2017. These numbers included 15.9 veteran suicides per day in 2005 and 16.8 in 2017. In 2017, the suicide rate for veterans was 1.5 times the rate for non-Veteran adults, after adjusting for population differences in age and sex. Firearms were the method of suicide in 70.7% of male Veteran suicide deaths and 43.2% of female Veteran suicide deaths in 2017. In addition to the aforementioned veteran suicides, there were 919 suicides among never federally activated former National Guard and Reserve members in 2017, an average 2.5 suicide deaths per day (Brown & Maple, 2019, p. 3). Unfortunately, even well-meaning employers have largely been unable to effectively facilitate the transition from active duty to the civilian workplace, and many veterans leave a job after the first 18 months due to an appropriate “lack of fit” to their employment (King, 2011). The combination of the uniqueness of the veteran experience with the rigors of transitioning to a civilian workplace has therefore created a dual-edged sword for veterans and employers alike, but there are some strategies that are available that can help remedy this ethical problem, including the use of learning teams.
Notwithstanding the recurring references to the “uniqueness” of the active duty experience for veterans, there is a growing body of evidence that many if not most veterans share at least some common challenges during their transition to civilian life. For instance, according to King (2011):
Veterans are a group whose challenges can be predicted and who share some common issues, from one veteran to the next. This means that they can be well served by a group learning solution, which is far more economical for the employer than providing each employee with her own coach. Smart companies realize the value in providing tailored onboarding training and resources in the earliest days of a veteran's employment, especially in light of the alternative: absorbing real and opportunity costs associated with learning in real time by trial-and-error, not to mention attrition. (p. 38)
The use of learning teams to facilitate veterans’ transition to the civilian workplace therefore also has a pragmatic side to it since this strategy can help reduce the well documented high costs of unplanned turnover on organizations of all sizes and types (Brundage & Kaziel, 2011). Taken together, addressing the ethical issues involved in helping veterans transition from active duty military service to the civilian workplace just makes good business sense, a factor that should help compel even the most reluctant employers to address this problem head-on rather than allowing their new veteran hires to languish in their jobs and eventually quit.
Synthesis
Given that military veterans possess a valuable set of soft skills and that many have received specialized training for occupations that are in high demand in the civilian sector, it is perplexing for some analysts that any veteran who wants a job cannot find one. This type of calculus, however, fails to take into account the significant problems that far too many veterans experience when they attempt to make the transition from a military to a civilian occupational setting. In addition, many veterans suffer from a wide array of service-connected disabilities, and it is not surprising that disabilities represent the leading cause of unemployment among veterans today (RAND Health, 2016).
Likewise, most civilian occupational settings do not resemble the strict hierarchical organization of the armed forces, and veterans may be left wondering where they fit in (Sargent, 2014). Further, some combat veterans may feel stigmatized among their co-workers by their status due to numerous high-profile instances of workplace mayhem in recent years, reinforcing the “stranger in a strange land” phenomenon even more. In sum, military veterans have much to offer but some of them may require initial and even ongoing support from their employers, including most especially the use of learning teams that can help them “learn the civilian ropes,” as well as the community-based resources offered by VA together with co-workers, family members and friends to make this transition successfully.
Conclusion
Today, the overwhelming majority of military veterans is attending school or is otherwise gainfully employed, but a significant percentage of these national heroes continues to experience severe problems in transitioning to civilian life and employment in the private sector. One of the more noteworthy findings to emerge from the research was the fact that while every service member experiences the transition to civilian life differently, there are some shared commonalities involved that can help guide workplace development efforts and the long-term employment status of these individuals. Yet another noteworthy finding was the fact that it is in the best interests of employers to help veterans make the transition to the civilian workplace since these efforts can reduce the high costs that are associated with unplanned turnover rates. In the final analysis, the problem is well known but far too many employers remain unaware or are disinclined to help veterans transition into the civilian workplace, but the nation – and its private sector employers – have an ethical obligation to do so.

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