Center for a New American Security launches Vet employment study

An enormous effort has gone into helping Veterans successfully transition from service to civilian employment over the past several years. This effort has included the public sector, the private sector and nonprofits across America. Collectively, the hiring commitments, improved training programs and streamlined support processes have helped reduce the overall veterans unemployment rate since 2009.

However, despite this success, a great deal remains unknown about Veterans employment. What does a Veteran career path look like after the first job after service? How does Veteran retention compare to that of non-Veterans? How do employers view Veterans in the workforce? And, perhaps most important, can we estimate the contributions of Veterans to the economy, to make the business case for Veterans employment?

The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is a non-partisan research institution in Washington, DC, that has been commissioned to study these questions and produce a report on Veterans employment, retention and economic performance. This study will produce a report that will inform efforts by the public, private and philanthropic sectors to continue and improve their work to support Veterans.

CNAS is seeking your participation in this study, via an anonymous, online survey. Your contribution of time and insight will help illuminate when and why Veterans move within the workforce, as well as how veterans perceive employment and retention issues, and how firms perceive Veterans in their workforce too.

We are seeking participants from three overlapping groups:

• Veterans (including anyone who has served in the military, including those who may fall into the other groups)
• Human resources (including anyone who works primarily on recruiting, talent acquisition, human resources or related issues)
• Business managers/business leaders (including anyone who manages personnel, business functions or business units, from first-line supervisors to executives)

Each of these surveys includes a short series of questions regarding hiring, retention and economic performance of Veterans in the workforce.  Survey participants will receive no direct benefits from completing the survey, however, survey responses will provide a public service by helping to inform the public, private and philanthropic community serving Veterans. This survey is being conducted anonymously using the Qualtrics online survey platform, and CNAS will not collect or retain any personal or private information from respondents. Survey answers will be aggregated, analyzed and used for a report to be published later this year by CNAS on Veterans economic issues. Participation is entirely voluntary, and also anonymous; participants may skip questions they do not want to answer.

Results from this study will be published in November 2016. Further information and the survey can be found on the CNAS website.

Phillip Carter is Senior Fellow, Counsel and Director of the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security. His research focuses on issues facing veterans and military personnel, force structure and readiness issues, and civil-military relations. Phil began his career as an Army officer, serving for 9 years, including a combat deployment to Iraq in 2005-06.