Vet Jobless Rate Leads to Fed, State Initiatives

If your Governor did not spend the stimulus money that was for your state, as too many did not including Florida, tell them to explain why they sit on all that money and veterans go without jobs!

Vet Jobless Rate Leads to Fed, State Initiatives
Detroit Free Press
by Katherine Young

In the early 1970s, Anthony Tarkowski learned the hard way that some employers did not want to hire soldiers returning from the Vietnam War.

The young veteran had just come back from Germany, where he had served after injuring his back during training. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't seem to get a job.


Then one day, a human resources manager gave him some advice: Don't put a check mark next to the veteran's box on job applications. Just skip it.

At his next job interview, Tarkowski followed this advice and scored well on a test for a data-processing position. He got the job.


"Veterans are highly trainable people," said Tarkowski, who is now CEO of Sygnetics, a staffing firm in Rochester Hills. "They will come to work. They are dedicated."

More than four decades later, veterans are still struggling to get hired. Their high jobless rate, particularly for the youngest ones, is a major problem, sparking a number of initiatives on the state and national levels. It's the reason Detroit's Cobo Center will play host to a massive job fair this week that's expected to draw 10,000 veterans.
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