HOW TECH INDUSTRY HELPS LOWER UNEMPLOYMENT RATES FOR VETERANS

By Dave Rocker

SINCE 9/11, THE AVERAGE

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AMONG

YOUNG VETS HAS BEEN 2.6X HIGHER

THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE.

THESE NUMBERS POINT TO A MAJOR

PROBLEM THAT VETS FACE IN TRYING TO

FIND JOBS UPON RETURNING HOME

FROM SERVING OUR COUNTRY OVERSEAS.

JOINING FORCES

➤It’s great to see the tech sector stepping up its recent efforts to help these honorable veterans find job placement through the White House initiative Joining Forces.

PUBLIC V. PRIVATE SECTOR

➤Working with both the private and public sectors, Joining Forces help align veterans and their families with the support they need to succeed after service.

BEYOND BEING THE PATRIOTIC THING TO DO,

HIRING VETS IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS

RESEARCH

➤Studies have found that hiring vets leads to higher productivity and lower job turnover.

HIRING TRENDS

SINCE IT’S INCEPTION IN 2011,

THE JOINING FORCES INITIATIVE HAS BEEN

RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HIRING OF 1.2

MILLION VETS AND THEIR SPOUSES.

THIS YEAR MORE THAN 40 COMPANIES SIGNED

ON TO THE INITIATIVE AND PLEDGED TO HIRE

MORE THAN 110,000 ADDITIONAL VETS AND SPOUSES IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, WHICH IS

A GREAT GOAL.

NOTABLE AMONG THESE COMPANIES IS

SEVERAL TECH COMPANIES,

REPRESENTING A GROWING SECTOR

THAT STANDS TO BENEFIT FROM

HIRING VETS.

ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

➤Among those companies is Activision Blizzard, one of the world’s largest video gaming makers.

CALL OF DUTY ENDOWMENT

➤In addition to being a part of the Joining Forces initiative, Activision has doubled their efforts to help vets by also leading their own philanthropy, the Call of Duty endowment.

TO DATE THEY HAVE HELPED MORE THAN

22,000 VETS FIND EMPLOYMENT BY

GIVING GRANTS TO NONPROFIT

ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE PROVEN SUCCESS

IN PLACING VETS IN JOBS.

IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING GRANTS TO NONPROFITS,

THE ACTIVISION ENDOWMENT ALSO RAISES

MONEY AND AWARENESS FOR VETERAN

EMPLOYMENT THROUGH AN ANNUAL VIDEO GAME

MARATHON FEATURING THE LATEST CALL OF DUTY

VIDEO GAME.

THEY ALSO PARTNER WITH

OTHER VIDEO GAME COMPANIES

LIKE SONY AND XBOX TO HELP

PLACE VETERANS.

PHILANTHROPY

ACTIVISION BLIZZARD’S MULTIFACETED

PHILANTHROPIC APPROACH IS A GREAT MODEL FOR

HELPING GET VETS BACK INTO THE WORKPLACE, AND

ONE I HOPE TO SEE IMPLEMENTED BY MORE TECH COMPANIES IN THE

FUTURE.

IT’S NOT ONLY OUR PATRIOTIC DUTY, BUT

ALSO IN OUR ECONOMIC BEST INTEREST TO

EQUIP THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE SERVED OUR COUNTRY WITH THE RESOURCES

THEY NEED TO THRIVE IN TECH JOBS.

FOR MORE VETERAN NEWS & INFO, VISIT: WWW.DAVEROCKER.ORG

➤ David L. Rocker brings more than 30 years of executive experience in corporate finance and workflow optimization to his current role as managing partner of the Rocker Group, LLC. In addition to managing the Rocker Group and being active in engineering circles, David is committed to helping others through his work with charitable and community service organizations. He has served on the Steering Committee for the Atlanta Housing Authority, and was the chair of the Fulton County (Atlanta) Workforce Development Committee. Follow Dave on Twitter for the latest news updates!