VETERAN EMPLOYMENT: UIG DELIVERS!
Veteran employment is an important issue and UIG takes it seriously. On this Veterans Day, November 11th, United Infrastructure Group salutes our veterans. This includes the ones out in the general public and those who work among us here at UIG! It gives us an opportunity to talk about the effort UIG puts into recruiting and hiring America’s veterans. It’s an effort we are proud of and it’s one that delivers MANY benefits to UIG!
Estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics tell us that there are about 4 million veterans who served from 2001 to today. There are 3.4 million who served between 1990 and 2001. And there are another 3 million under the age of 65 who served earlier than the original Gulf War. As for veteran employment, their unemployment rate isn’t very different from the overall rate, 5-ish per cent or so. But the difference between veterans and others looking for work is the training and life experience that their military service has given them.
VETERAN EMPLOYMENT: SKILLED, DISCIPLINED, AND ADAPTABLE
According to LiveCareer.com, “today’s transitioning military vets are highly skilled, disciplined, and accustomed to following commands (while being adaptable to quickly changing situations). They are also dependable and loyal. Study after study points to very obvious transferable skills — from military to civilian.” These include:
- Teamwork
- Critical thinking
- Problem-solving
- Work ethic
- Integrity
- Multicultural awareness
- Adaptability
- Interpersonal communications
- Willingness/ability to learn new skills and concepts
- Leadership
- Working under pressure
- Politeness/courtesy
- Respect for procedures/accountability
VETERAN EMPLOYMENT: UIG DOES ITS PART
In UIG’s quarterly newsletter, we offer a regular veteran employment feature: Honoring Our Veterans, where we proudly share stories of UIG veterans making successful transitions to civilian work. A recent story included construction engineer Alan Decker, who served as an officer in Afghanistan before joining UIG in 2016.
According to Rebecca Battle-Bryant, UIG’s Vice President of Employee Resources & Workforce Development, veteran employment at UIG is a natural fit. “Veteran recruitment is something we actively pursue at UIG. Sometimes, we get a precise fit of skills and experience. Other times, the fit is close enough, and those unique veteran traits like problem solving, leadership, and accountability fill the gap. Either way, our experience with recruiting veterans has been extremely positive, and it’s something we plan to continue!”
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VETERAN EMPLOYMENT AT UIG!
If you’re a veteran looking to make the transition to civilian employment, or if you know one, UIG encourages you to think about the many veteran employment opportunities in the construction trade. UIG proudly hires veterans – contact us today!
