Noteboom The Law Firm

Disabled Veterans Hired At Low Rates In Private Sector

January 20, 2011 - A poll was released last week focusing on the hiring rate of veterans in the private sector and the results were very positive for most veterans. The results showed almost 70% of Human Resource (HR) managers incorporated the hiring of veterans into their company's diversity profile over the last year. Further, about the same percentage of small, medium, and large sized companies reported they hired a veteran over the last year.

Although more private sector companies are hiring veterans, the poll also showed those same companies are failing to utilize the entire spectrum of veteran resources available. Accordingly, most companies have yet to reap the benefits of employing disabled veterans. This is somewhat puzzling as hiring disabled individuals is standard diversity policy among 70% of reporting companies. 

The last year has seen very few companies hiring disabled veterans despite vocal outward indications that recruiting and hiring veterans with disclosed disabilities would be a company goal. A mere 17% of responding HR managers reported hiring a veteran with a disclosed disability. Disabled veterans not disclosing their disability cannot be taken into consideration in the poll.

There are distinct benefits and incentives for businesses to hire disabled veterans and employers are very aware of them. This knowledge, however, does not seem to translate into actual hiring of veterans with disabilities. This is especially true when looking at hiring and providing accommodations for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs).