Corporate America Competes Vehemently to Hire Military Veterans

Despite current slowdown, American businesses grow access to military talent supply, seen as critical

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Across all industries, from struggling banks to burgeoning energy firms, corporate America is capitalizing on acquiring military talent, according to G.I. Jobs' sixth annual list recognizing the nation's Top 50 Military-Friendly Employers(R), www.gijobs.com/top50pr.

The military produces nearly 400,000 new civilian workers annually. Aside from college campuses which produce a little over 1 million workers annually, the military is the largest, and arguably the most valuable, source of renewable, skilled talent in the country.

Matthew Rose, Chairman, president and CEO of #2 ranked BNSF Railway, knows the business case for hiring veterans, saying that "those who wore our nation's uniforms are mission-focused, highly skilled, motivated and possess unique experiences and technical knowledge. Military candidates embody the core competencies of BNSF: leadership, teamwork and the ability to perform safely in a fast-paced, dynamic environment."

While unemployment rises and job losses approach one million for the year, even companies with suppressed immediate hiring needs continue to develop access to military talent pools. Why? It's baby boomers stupid! Experts agree that current job loss and unemployment statistics would be far worse if baby boomers hadn't started retiring from the workforce last year.

"Employers are facing a drastically reduced talent supply caused by millions of baby boomers retiring annually," said Susan F. Davis, executive vice president - human resources for Johnson Controls, which ranked #1 on the G.I. Jobs list. "The demand for talent will be higher than any of us can imagine and a company with well-branded access to renewable military labor pools positions itself to win. Our recruitment team realizes this and Johnson Controls is committed to ensuring military personnel know how much we want to hire them."

"This isn't about charity or patriotism. It's about good business. The companies on our list understand that," said Rich McCormack, who heads G.I. Jobs' list research.

Chris Hale, general manager of G.I. Jobs, notes that interest in hiring military veterans has never been higher. "This list serves to disprove a populist notion that veterans are having difficulty finding jobs when leaving the military." Hale bristles at what he calls inaccurate attention given to high unemployment rates for America's young veterans, citing the fact that many young veterans opt to take unemployment benefits before starting a civilian career. "Given the operational tempo we're putting our troops through, wouldn't you?"

The pool of eligible companies (minimum of $1 billion annual revenues) was approximately 2,500. Only 2 percent made the list. Seven firms - American Electric Power, Brinks, GE, Merrill Lynch, Sprint Nextel, The Home Depot and USAA - have earned a spot on the list in all six years of its existence.

Criteria for the rankings included assets dedicated to military hiring (28%), Reserve/Guard policies (18%), percentage of new hires who are veterans (14%), veteran training programs (10%) and previous three years' rankings (30%).

ABOUT G.I. Jobs

G.I. Jobs (www.gijobs.com) is published by Victory Media, a veteran-owned business, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa. The company also publishes Military Spouse and Vetrepreneur magazines.

G.I. Jobs 2008 Top 50 Military-Friendly Employer(R) List

    1  Johnson Controls
    2  BNSF Railway
    3  Union Pacific
    4  USAA
    5  ITT Corporation
    6  ManTech International Corporation
    7  Applied Materials
    8  CSX Transportation
    9  The Home Depot
    10  EG&G
    11  CINTAS Corporation
    12  Lockheed Martin
    13  Schneider National, Inc.
    14  J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc
    15  Fluor Corporation
    16  General Electric
    17  Booz Allen Hamilton
    18  Brink's, Incorporated
    19  DynCorp
    20  Transocean
    21  Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
    22  Sunbelt Rentals, Inc.
    23  Werner Enterprises
    24  Southern Company
    25  Sears Holdings Corporation
    26  Progress Energy
    27  American Electric Power
    28  Sprint Nextel
    29  State Farm Insurance Companies
    30  Norfolk Southern
    31  Travelers
    32  Northrop Grumman Corporation
    33  Health Net Inc.
    34  BearingPoint, Inc.
    35  Merrill Lynch
    36  CACI
    37  The Boeing Company
    38  Bank of America
    39  Sodexo
    40  AAR
    41  Lowe's Companies, Inc.
    42  Exelon
    43  Chrysler LLC
    44  The Wackenhut Corporation
    45  Ecolab Inc.
    46  ENSCO International
    47  Corrections Corporation of America
    48  Southern California Edison
    49  Harris Corporation
    50  T-Mobile