In 2011, the Obama administration created the Joining Forces Campaign to provide jobs for veterans and their spouses. President Obama asked the nation’s private sector to employ 100,000 recent veterans who are considered some of the most viable candidates for the workforce.
The Obama Administration notes “These men and women are some of the highest skilled, best trained, hardest working people in this country. They are medics and engineers, drivers and welders, computer technicians and machinists. They are eager to work and determined to keep on serving this country. All they need is a chance”.
Today the Joining Forces Campaign has employed nearly 300,000 recent veterans nationally and has gained commitments from organizations like Home Depot, Target, and UPS looking to hire another 435,000 in the next five years.
As a region that has a significant veteran population, San Diego’s nonprofits and businesses have answered the call to put our heroes back to work and provide the training they need to succeed in the civilian workforce.
To learn more, read the recent op-ed on the Joining Forces Campaign written by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden.