Do you know about this proposed incentive program to hire vets?
For the last several months, the unemployment rate for the nation has been hovering at around 9% However, when you dig deeper into those statistics you’ll find that the jobless rate for veterans is closer to 11.6% and for those 260,000 vets who enlisted after 9/11 the jobless rate bumps up to 13.3%. Compound that with the fact that nearly 10,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are homeless or working in programs to keep them off the streets and it’s clear that our nation can and must do better in terms of honoring these heroes. We’re way past the time for partisan rancor in Washington to slow down a vet’s chances for gainful employment. At a recent speech at the Washington Navy Yard, President Obama put forth his own set of proposed initiatives to help spur businesses into hiring vets. What should be abundantly obvious to every company looking to hire staff is that our returning veterans are bringing back skill sets that can be utilized in a variety of workplace scenarios.
TAX CREDITS TO HIRE A VET
“If you can save a life in Afghanistan, you can save a life in an ambulance in Wyoming. If you can oversee millions of dollars of assets in Iraq, you can help a business balance its books here at home,” Obama said during those remarks at the Washington Navy Yard. Among the administrations multi-phase set of initiatives are:
“Returning Heroes:” A tax credit that can be applied for 2012-2013. For any company that hires an out-of-work veteran they would be given a $2,400 tax credit. If that vet has been out of work for six months or more that tax credit can be doubled.
“Wounded Warriors:” A tax credit for an additional 24 months. This provides employers with a $4,800 credit for hiring veterans who has a service-related injury. Also, the double bonus credit applies with this credit.
“Joining Forces:” A program to get the word out about hiring or training at least 100,000 veterans by 2013 spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden. Joining Forces, according to a White House press release, “was established to raise awareness and rally all sectors of society (individuals, businesses, communities, philanthropists, faith-based institutions, etc.) to recognize the service and sacrifice of veterans and military families and give them the opportunities and support they have earned.”
“Reverse Boot Camp:” The president is also putting forth an executive order for the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department to establish a kind of “reverse boot camp.” The goal is to serve as kind of requirement and vocational training effort to help service personal make the transition into the civilian workforce.
MAKING THE TRANSITION BACK TO CIVILIAN LIFE
“The president feels that our veterans who have served the country, put their lives on the line and are coming into a difficult labor market, deserve all the support we as a country can give them to find new careers, new private sector job opportunities that will allow them to have economic security for themselves and their families,” an administration official is quoted as saying.
“This is not a tax credit that we believe necessarily has to be continued indefinitely, but we believe that with the significant number of veterans entering the workforce at a time of significant long-term unemployment as our nation is recovering from the worst recession since the Great Depression, that this is both appropriate and fair and something the American people will strongly support,” the official said. Hopefully, Congress will support the President’s proposals by moving swiftly to enact this legislation.
We’ll be posting additional information on this topic as we learn more… if anyone has any info they’d like to share please comment for all to benefit from or send an email so we can make corrections or updates.
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