Veterans Can't Find Work

Aboard the retired cruise ship Queen Mary -- a World War II veteran redeployed as a tourist attraction -- former members of the armed services Thursday got an extra ration of employment help.

But, between a sagging economy and years of specialized experience, many veterans say they still can't find decent jobs or feel pigeonholed into low-paying fitness, security or law enforcement positions.

Behind a table spread with brochures and flanked by posters advertising jobs with Military Sealift Command, a civilian military transportation company, recruiter Sarah Little smiled at passing veterans.

But when they moved on, the happy front vanished. Most of the applicants milling around the Long Beach job fair weren't prepared for the rigorous application process for the seafaring positions she had to offer, Little said.

Keep Reading (registration required)...

Comments

[loki]

Keep unemployment at the right level. Keep people in debt. Keep people on the edge and remove any feelings of being empowered, and you have a loyal work force that will accept wages offered without question and wont have the time or ambition to worry about anything except their own survival.

The Economic Train Wreck theory , Brought to you by the Reagan Administration. Executed by the Bush Administration.

The thousands of troops , who volunteered to serve for whatever reason, are just more victims in this ideology. The millions of citizens being laid off and cut back in favor of the cheaper labor overseas. Mortgages, used to artificially prop up the economy to help the elite better weather the train wreck change over, and also create a large base of renters, dependent upon their landlords. The coming forced collapse of social programs for the people, while billions are being paid out to the wealthy elite who created their own problems out of greed.
I really, really , honest to god, want to be wrong...

[fact finder]

loki; Very well said . I agree 100%.

[arsphidius]

"And with a wife, parents and younger brother to support, Serrano said he can't take a minimum-wage position and hope for a promotion later."

Why exactly is he supporting all those people? Can't they get jobs and help support themselves?

[abbiehoffmansghost]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyD5qVbGhbo

[abbiehoffmansghost]

Don't worry, a government that would bail out some banks that are failing because of illegal, immoral, and unethical behavior, will surely help out the vets and not cut their benefits. And look, they already get the best of care in the finest and cleanest of medical facilities. Don't worry, if you put your life on the line for us we'll take care of you.

[Graywolf48]

Veteran's can't find jobs? Hell, the majority of American's can't find jobs unless they're minimum wage and then they're offered less than 40 hours to avoid having to be given any benefits. The Revolution is coming and it may not be televised but it will be bloody. The middle class, and the working class hope of one day moving up to the middle class is quickly disappearing. Once that middle class buffer is gone, or virtually non-existent, the 99.9 per cent of the population who are "have nots" will viciously come after that .01% of those "haves" that Bush calls his base. It will be violent and it won't be pretty, but it will happen. It's happened throughout history in civilizations around the globe. It will eventually happen here. It's just a matter of time and a continuous building of economic and social pressures which finally explode.

[Obamacan]

HuffPost's Pick

I can't speak for veterans that have been out of the service for many years, but if your just separating the military, there ARE jobs you can get fairly quickly.

When I sep'd in 99', US marshals were recruiting in class. But some ideas for Vets out there are:
Boarder patrol, US Customs, Port security, Airports,D­.E.A., Highway Patrol, Sherriff's dept., Halliburton, Black water, PG&E, UPS, Fed ex, US Postal Service and the list goes on.

It might not be 100K a year, but you have to start somewhere. The point is, there are jobs for vets, depending on their specialty or MOS. Think outside the box like you've been trained. Adapt, improvise, and overcome devil dogs.

[mooreaj2]

I agree with you Obamacan. There are plenty of jobs out there for vets. I actually was able to find a job for myself in South Carolina by using vetfriends.com veteran owned business directory. You better believe a Vet who owns a business is more likely to hire a FELLOW VET! www.vetfriends.com/business

They even have a resources page www.vetfriends.com/directory/links/index.cfm where they give you links on how to start your own business and how to get government grants.

Not to mention the site is cool because as they say they are the largest site to reunite military veterans from all eras.

With media today I think too many Americans forget we are fighting 2 wars and tend to worry about what Britney Spears is doing rather than our soldiers. Thank you from the LA TIME and HUFFINGTON POST for showing this story

[GoLeftGoDeep]

-- Veterans Can't Find Work --

ah yes, the conservative Republican economy ... something for everyone ...

[ErnestineBass]

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it disturbing that most of the "well-paying" jobs being created in this country today are restricted to the military procurement sector? *shiver*
We ARE Rome.

[GoLeftGoDeep]

insightful observation ...

"Every gun that is fired, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children." Pres. Dwight Eisenhower

[studlyguy]

America doesn't manufacture anything anymore,everything is outsourced ,i see someone said get a service job ,America how are we going to be just a service industry if you don't have any real good paying jobs in America who are these service jobs going to service to if there are no real jobs just out of curiousty ,all the high paying jobs are in cheap low wage countries ,America could very well become the the first country to go to third world status in the 21st century

[studlyguy]

typo:curiosity

[ErnestineBass]

We're being "groomed" to serve the rich, studlyguy, much like the serfs of old served at the pleasure of the aristocracy and "landed" gentry classes.

[LivingStardust]

Veterans are not alone on this topic.

[ErnestineBass]

True that, LivingStardust. (P.S. - love your nick. Aren't we all?)

[carlgt1]

because the RepugliKKKan plan for America is no jobs; so you have to sign up or reinlist or "stop loss" over and over! That's what happened to Jessica Lynch, no jobs at home, but Repukes offered her an opportunity to be a "hero".

[vippy]

Do we ever learn. Samo, samo after every war. Economy is drained, wrecked, kaputt!
Ultimately, we will be glad if we start another war, we can always volunteer to die, making
the rich richer!

[WTFbush]

That is why vets should ask the people with thoose yellow magnetic bows that read "We support the troops" what the Christ does that means. And when they don't have an answer, tell them to shove it, along with their lip-service bullshit right up their ass.

[esgabel]

Let the CEO of AT&T put his money and patriotism where his mouth is. Start a hire a vet campaign to make up for the civil rights that were compromised while our military fought and died for our freedom...

[sklfcats]

Bull
There are tons of jobs
Sometimes they whine too much

[Tom95134]

Yeah, tons of "service" type jobs if you're willing to try to keep your family together while earning $8.00/hr.

[dadw5boys]

$8.00 an hour?
WOW you can't find that here.
$5.85 AND HOUR and after that 6 months period when the TRAINING tax break runs out your gone.

[WTFbush]

Yeah, there are tons of jobs in Mexico, Ecuador, India and China.

[dadw5boys]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/03/27/foodbank.family/index.html?eref=rss_us

Tell that to this woman she went from 70,000 a year to the food bank in a couple of months.

The Bush Adminstration use Seasonal Adjusted Averages to report Unemployment.

It is easy to hide facts when your averaging anything.

Why did they switch from ACTUAL UNEMPLOYMENT DATA to Seasonal Adjusted Averages?

The real unemployment rate is about 8% or higher and the Under employment rate is about 14%, meaning they have degrees but are working mimium wage jobs to survive.

[GoLeftGoDeep]

oh yeah, US Veterans whine too much ... but then I didn't hear them whine when they were dodging bullets and IEDs in 130* temps for years at a time ...

amazing how the Chickenhawks have plenty of work at the conservative think tanks who helped drive this nation into the ditch

[biwee]

Good one!!! Yes, the Israel First Zionist NeoCons that run this country landed at the American Enterprise Institute after they started the unnecessary war of choice in Iraq.....r­ight, Wolfowitz???

[MajorKong]

I suppose they could go work at one of those factories we moved to China or at one of the information technology jobs we sent to India. Or maybe they could become realtors or construction workers and work in the booming housing sector - oh wait....

[JohnFromCensornati]

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me"
I go down to see the V.A. man
He said "Son don't you understand"
Born in the USA
I was born in the USA