Employers Must Realise The Benefits Of Hiring Veterans

The ‘Veterans Work’ report produced by Deloitte, the Officers’ Association and Forces in Mind Trust highlights some of the challenges faced by UK veterans entering employment, and the significant benefits organisations can realise by recruiting from the veteran talent pool...

Across the country, three in ten businesses admit they have not even considered employing veterans. While the majority claim to be more open minded, 60 per cent of businesses rule out recruiting someone if they have no industry specific experience.

There are roughly 700,000 veterans currently in employment, over half find themselves in routine, low-skilled or low-paid jobs. It is an alarming waste of talent.

The Veterans Work report is part of Deloitte’s One Million Futures programme which addresses the challenges faced by many people in the UK in accessing education, training and employment and how we overcome these barriers to unlock the full potential of groups of ‘hidden talent’ within our society.

The report calls on policymakers to find a better balance between the short-term, tactical objective of placing Service leavers into employment, with the long-term alternative of developing veterans’ transferable skills and vocational qualifications.

To learn more about recognising the potential of ex-Forces men and women, visit the Veterans Work website where you will find the report itself, as well as a series of excellent videos produced on behalf of Deloitte UK and the Officers’ Association which bring the report to life. The videos feature showbiz luminaries such as Joanna Lumley, Ray Winstone, Larry Lamb, Nick Knowles and Richard Wilson.

You can get involved on social media using the hashtag #VeteransWork

Forces Recruitment Services, signatories to the Armed Forces Covenant, are committed to bringing together experienced, trained and skilled ex-Service personnel with employers and businesses across all major sectors.

Find out more about our services here.