What’s the worst federal agency for hiring veterans? Congress!

Group says Congress should set example by hiring more vets
Army Times
By Leo Shane III
Staff writer
April 7, 2014

What’s the worst federal agency for hiring veterans? Try Congress.

Despite numerous efforts by lawmakers in recent years to spur veterans employment in the private sector, few congressional offices have followed suit. A new survey estimates that fewer than 180 veterans are employed as Capitol Hill staff, a mere 3 percent of the 6,000-plus employees there.

For comparison, in fiscal 2012 nearly half of all Defense Department employees were veterans. One in three Veterans Affairs and Transportation Department workers were veterans that year, and the Education Department — one of the lowest veteran hiring rates among federal agencies — had just under 10 percent.

Now, a network of veterans working in Congress is hoping to change that.

HillVets, formed less than a year ago to connect and assist former military personnel working in the legislative branch, this month announced plans to double the number of veterans in those jobs by the start of the next legislative session, in January 2016.
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