shrm poll: military employment february 20, 2012

SHRM Poll: Military Employment

February 20, 2012

Military Employment ©SHRM 2012 2

Key Findings

Are organizations hiring veterans? Roughly two-thirds of organizations (64%) have hired veterans within the past 36 months. This percentage has increased 11 percentage points compared with 2010 (53%). Larger organizations (100 or more employees) were more likely than smaller organizations (1 to 99 employees) to have hired veterans within the past 36 months.

Do organizations make specific efforts to hire veterans? Of organizations that have hired veterans in the past 36 months, 45% had made specific efforts. Of organizations that have not hired any veterans in the past 36 months, only 15% had made a specific effort to recruit veterans.

Are organizations aware of effective resources for recruiting veterans? Only 13% of organizations are very familiar with effective resources for finding veteran job candidates. Government agencies were more likely to be aware of effective resources for recruiting veterans. Only a small percentage of organizations are very familiar with, and use, the Depart of Labor’s Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program (3%) and/or Local Veterans’ Employment Representative (4%).


Key Findings

What online job boards are the most effective in helping to recruit veterans as potential job candidates? HR professionals indicated that Career Builder (39%), Monster (34%) and Indeed (23%) were the most effective for recruiting veterans.

What are the benefits of hiring employees with military experience? Among the organizations that had hired veterans within the past 36 months, the top three reported benefits were the candidate’s strong sense of responsibility (97%), and ability to see a task through to completion (96%) and the organization’s ability to give back to U.S. veterans by showing gratitude for their service (95%). Organizations that had not hired veterans within the past 36 months reported similar potential benefits.

What are the challenges of hiring employees with military experience? Approximately half of the organizations that have hired veterans in the past 36 months agreed or strongly agreed that the biggest challenges of hiring individuals with military experience are difficulty transitioning from a structure and hierarchy in the military culture to the civilian workplace culture (52%) and translating military skills to civilian job experience (50%). Post-traumatic stress disorder or other mental health issues (42%) were also reported as challenges when hiring veterans.


Within the past 36 months, has your organization hired any veterans as full-time, part-time or temporary/contract workers?

No

Yes

47%

53%

36%

64%

2012 (n = 297)2010 (n = 328)

Note: Respondents who answered “Not sure” were excluded from this analysis.


Within the past 36 months, has your organization hired any veterans as full-time, part-time or temporary/contract workers?

Smaller organizations Larger organizations Differences based on organization staff size

1 to 99 employees (41%)

100 to 499 employees (68%)500 to 2,499 employees (74%)

2,500 to 24,999 employees (76%)25,000 or more employees (94%)

Larger organizations > smaller organizations

Comparisons by organization staff size

Larger organizations (100 or more employees) are more likely than smaller organizations (1 to 99 employees) to have hired veterans within the past 36 months.

Comparisons by organization sector

Publicly owned for-profit organizations and government agencies are more likely than privately owned for-profit organizations to have hired veterans within the past 36 months.

Organization sector Differences based on organization sector

Privately owned for-profit (55%)Publicly owned for-profit (82%)

Government (91%)Publicly owned for-profit

Government> privately owned for-profit


Did your organization make a specific effort to recruit and hire veterans?

Have hired a veteran in the past 36 months

Have not hired a veteran in the past 36 months

2012 2010 2012 2010

Yes 45% 50% 15% 11%

No, but planning a recruitment effort 13% 11% 14% 11%

No, and don’t have any plans to 42% 39% 71% 78%

Note: n = 133-150 (2012); n = 145-175 (2010).


Did your organization make a specific effort to recruit and hire veterans?


1 to 99 employees (37%)100 to 499 employees (31%)

25,000 or more employees (85%) Larger organizations > smaller organizations


Of organizations that have hired veterans in the past 36 months, larger organizations (25,000 or more employees) are more likely to have made a specific effort to recruit and hire veterans compared with smaller organizations (1 to 499 employees).


How aware is your organization of effective resources for finding veteran job candidates?

Very aware

Somewhat aware

Not at all aware

13%

52%

35%

n = 250


How aware is your organization of effective resources for finding veteran job candidates?

Comparisons by organization sector

Government agencies are more likely to be very aware of effective resources for finding veteran job candidates compared with privately owned for-profit organizations.

Privately owned for-profit organizations Government agencies Differences based on organization sector

8% 32%Government agencies >

privately owned for-profit organizations


How familiar are you with the following Department of Labor (DOL) veterans’ programs? Have you used either of these programs in your organization’s recruiting?

Note: n = 291 (2012); n = 364-365 (2010).

Not at all familiar

Somewhat familiar, but do

not use

Somewhat familiar and

use

Very familiar, but do not use

Very familiar and use

2012 2010 2012 2010 2012 2010 2012 2010 2012 2010

Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program (DVOP)

67% 70% 21% 19% 4% 6% 5% 3% 3% 2%

Local Veterans’ Employment Representative (LVER)

64% 68% 21% 16% 7% 9% 4% 3% 4% 4%


How familiar are you with the following Department of Labor (DOL) veterans’ programs? Have you used either of these programs in your organization’s recruiting?


1 to 99 employees (3%)2,500 to 24,999 employees (2%)

25,000 or more employees (25%) Larger organizations > smaller organizations


Larger organizations (25,000 or more employees) are more likely to be very familiar with and use the Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program compared with smaller organizations (1 to 99 employees and 2,500 to 24,999 employees).


Within the past 36 months, how effective have the following national online job boards been in helping your organization recruit veterans as potential job candidates?

Not applicable; my organization does not

use this source

Not at all effective Somewhat effective Very effective

Vault 95% 3% 2% 0%

Militaryhire.com 94% 2% 3% 1%

Vetsuccess.gov 91% 2% 6% 1%

HireVetsFirst 90% 2% 6% 2%

Recruit Military 90% 2% 6% 2%

Jobcentral 88% 4% 7% 1%

Vetjobs.com 88% 2% 9% 2%

CareerOneStop 87% 4% 7% 2%

Simplyhired 84% 4% 9% 2%

HotJobs 77% 9% 12% 2%

Indeed 69% 8% 19% 4%

Monster 47% 18% 31% 3%

Career Builder 46% 15% 32% 7%

Note: n = 277-293. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.


In addition to the job boards listed above, what other sources does your organization use to recruit veteran job candidates?

Note: List is not inclusive of all responses.

Civilianjobs.com ClearanceJobs.com Craigslist Employerpartnership.org HirePatriots.org Hireveterans.com Industry contacts Job fairs JSFirm.com LinkedIn Military.com Recruiters and/or staffing agencies Rigzone.com State or local sponsored programs, employment listings or job boards USAJobs.gov Word of mouth/referrals WorkSource


How likely is your organization to actively recruit unemployed veterans and/or unemployed veterans with disabilities now that there is a tax credit available?

Unemployed veterans with disabilities (n = 158)

Unemployed veterans (n = 168)

8%

15%

53%

54%

27%

23%

12%

8%

Very unlikely Unlikely Likely Very likely


To what extent would each of the following help your organization’s efforts to recruit and hire military veterans?

Note: n = 266-277 (2012); n = 302-335(2010). Respondents who answered “N/A – Experienced in this area, do not need assistance” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response choice was not available in 2010.

Would not help at all

Would help a little Would help somewhat

Would help a lot

2012 2010 2012 2010 2012 2010 2012 2010

Assistance identifying and reaching out to qualified veterans 6% 9% 17% 20% 31% 39% 46% 32%

Information about how military skills map to civilian job-related skills 8% * 14% * 34% * 44% *

Programs to help veterans transition their military skills to the civilian workplace 7% 11% 16% 18% 38% 35% 40% 36%

Programs to help veterans transition from military culture to civilian workplace culture

8% 12% 19% 22% 36% 35% 37% 31%

Programs to train veterans with additional skills for the civilian workplace 8% 12% 20% 16% 40% 33% 33% 39%

Information about and support for dealing with potential challenges veterans may face, such as PTSD or other mental health issues

12% 18% 21% 24% 36% 32% 31% 26%

Information about and support for dealing with potential challenges veterans with physical disabilities may face

11% 17% 26% 24% 34% 35% 30% 24%


Do you agree that the following are benefits of hiring employees with military experience?

Organizations that have hired veterans in the

past 36 months(n = 99-160)

Organizations that have not hired veterans in

the past 36 months, but have made an effort to

do so (n = 13-17)

Organizations that have not hired veterans in

the past 36 months and have not made an

effort to do so (n = 84-119)

Strong sense of responsibility 97% 94% 99%

Ability to see a task through to completion 96% 94% 98%

The organization’s ability to give back to U.S. veterans by showing gratitude for their service 95% 100% 99%

Promoting patriotism at the organization 94% 101% 95%

Ability to work as part of a team 94% 94% 99%

Ability to work under pressure 94% 94% 98%

High degree of professionalism 93% 88% 97%

Strong leadership skills 90% 100% 95%

Positive enhancement of the organization’s image and/or credibility 90% 100% 94%

Note: The percentages above reflect only the responses of “strongly agree” or “agree.”


Do you agree that the following are benefits of hiring employees with military experience? (continued)

Note: The percentages above reflect only the responses of “strongly agree” or “agree.”

Organizations that have hired veterans in the

past 36 months(n = 99-160)

Organizations that have not hired veterans in the

past 36 months, but have made an effort to

do so (n = 13-17)

Organizations that have not hired veterans in the past 36 months and have not made an effort to do

so (n = 84-119)

Strong problem-solving skills 90% 87% 97%

Technology/information technology skills and training 88% 87% 91%

Ability to multitask 88% 79% 94%

Ability to adapt to changing situations quickly 87% 94% 99%

Job-specific skills 86% 85% 85%

Global perspective 80% 93% 87%

Strategic planning/foresight 79% 86% 88%

Fulfillment of federal and/or state affirmative action requirements 78% 87% 89%

Knowledge/expertise of defense issues 77% 87% 89%


Based on your overall experience, do you agree that each of the following is a challenge in hiring employees with military experience?

Translating military skills to civilian job experience

Difficulty transitioning from the structure and hierarchy in the military culture to the civilian workplace culture

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other mental health issues

The amount of time it takes for these employees to adapt to civilian workplace culture

These employees tend to be overqualified for the positions they apply for

Combat-related physical disabilities

These employees tend to be underqualified for the positions they apply for

4%

5%

6%

8%

9%

10%

12%

46%

42%

53%

58%

67%

65%

72%

40%

42%

36%

29%

19%

21%

12%

10%

10%

6%

6%

4%

3%

4%

Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree

Note: n = 154-159. Only respondents whose organization had hired veterans in the past 36 months were asked this question. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.

Military Employment ©SHRM 2012

Demographics: Organization Industry

19Note: n = 290. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

Industry Percentage

Manufacturing 20%

Professional, scientific and technical services 15%

Health care and social assistance 13%

Finance and insurance 11%

Other services except public administration 8%

Educational services 7%

Public administration 6%

Construction of buildings; heavy and civil engineering construction; specialty trade contractors 4%

Transportation and warehousing 4%

Accommodation and food services 3%

Retail trade 3%

Real estate and rental and leasing 3%


Demographics: Organization Industry

20Note: n = 290. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisks (*) indicates < 1%.

Industry Percentage

Arts, entertainment, and recreation 3%

Utilities 3%

Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 2%

Information, publishing industries 2%

Mining 2%

Wholesale trade 2%

Management of companies and enterprises 1%

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 1%

Religious, grant-making, civic, professional and similar organizations 1%

Repair and maintenance 1%

Personal and laundry services *


Demographics: Organization Sector

Other

Government agency

Nonprofit organization

Privately owned for-profit organization

Publicly owned for-profit organization

4%

9%

14%

53%

20%

21

n = 291


Demographics: Organization Staff Size

25,000 or more employees

2,500 to 24,999 employees

500 to 2,499 employees

100 to 499 employees

1 to 99 employees

6%

20%

16%

31%

27%

22

n = 283


Demographics: Other

23

U.S.-based operations only 73%

Multinational operations 27%

Single-unit company: A company in which the location and the company are one and the same.

38%

Multi-unit company: A company that has more than one location. 63%

Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices 46%

Each work location determines HR policies and practices 3%

A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determine HR policies and practices

52%

Is your organization a single-unit company or a multi-unit company?

Are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit corporate headquarters, by each work location or both?

Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only or does it operate multi-nationally?

n = 259 Note: n = 296. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

Note: n = 189. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

Corporate (company wide) 56%

Business unit/division 24%

Facility/location 20%

n = 188

What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey?


SHRM Poll: Military Employment

Response rate = 13%

Sample composed of 359 randomly selected HR professionals from SHRM’s membership

Margin of error is +/- 5%

Survey fielded January 4-22, 2012

24

Methodology

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shrm poll: military employment february 20, 2012

Documents

recruiting veterans

organizations ability

thirds of organizations

veterans outreach program

military experience

military employment

military culture

key findingsare organizations