Few have sacrificed more for our nation and its cause of freedom than the men and women of our military forces. For all they have given, our veterans, wounded warriors and military spouses deserve opportunities to effectively return to civilian life upon completion of duty.
Texas is home to more than 1.7 million veterans with an unemployment rate of approximately 23% as compared to the Texas unemployment rate of 8.3%. For most veterans, healthy transition involves assistance from support organizations and employment within three months of their return home. However, our veterans experience higher than average unemployment rates and longer waiting periods. This resonating employment condition underlies the goal of our statewide, multi-dimensional workforce readiness initiative, “The Patriotic Promise.” This exemplary collaborative initiative is designed to improve employment among our 1.7 million Texas veterans.
To support this effort, the SHRM-TSC has aligned strategic business partners including; employers, government agencies, business associations, and military support organizations to create and execute a statewide symposium series that addresses strategic business and veteran employment issues. The symposiums and related toolkit equip Texas employers with the available resources to design their organizations targeted veteran, wounded warrior and military spouse talent management programs.