2019 Veteran Opportunity Report reveals insights on an overlooked talent pool

Today, LinkedIn released the Veteran Opportunity Report. The report takes an in-depth look at the real challenges facing veterans as they enter the job market and suggests solutions for how to fix this hiring gap for recruiters and hiring managers. 

The data reveals:

• Veterans are a key talent pool in the United States. There are ~22 million veterans in the US and 200K military members separate from the service every year. 

• Though unemployment rates are low, a new problem has emerged in the Veteran community: underemployment. Veterans are 70% more likely to take a step back in seniority and 36% less likely to make a seniority jump when moving into the civilian workforce.

• Veterans are less likely to land a job despite having on average 4+ more years of experience and being 160% more likely to have a graduate degree than civilians applying for the same role.

• Despite these challenges, veterans thrive once given an opportunity. They are 39% more likely to move into a leadership position and more likely to stay at the company vs. average civilian workers.

Veterans have unique and valuable skills to bring to any number of roles within a company. For an in-depth look at recommendations on how to better engage the veteran community in your company, access the full report here.