Pink Slips Greet Returning Soldiers; Thousands of veterans have lost their full-time jobs in recent years when called up for service, and critics say the Labor Department has done little to help them

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Jan 5, 2004

During hearings before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Bloch indeed addressed the issue, saying, "They did their job. Let's give them their job back." But senior attorneys at the OSC let it be known that they were angered and shocked by Bloch's comments and suggest their new boss has been "misinformed" and that there is a "miscommunication problem." Other senior officials at the OSC were quick to claim that very few of these cases are referred to the office and those that they do receive often are without merit.

But Insight's analysis of these cases handled by the OSC during the last five years indicates a record that is far from stellar. During fiscal 1998 to fiscal 2002, the OSC handled 55 such cases. Of those, only one was referred to the MSPB. In two other cases, the OSC obtained some corrective action in favor of the veteran, but 46 other cases were declined outright while six still are pending. Some of the cases, the OSC claims, concern unfounded discrimination complaints. Little wonder that veterans see the OSC as a losing proposition.

The Labor Department VETS agency also fails to receive a ringing endorsement among veterans, who question whether they are getting a fair shake there as well. According to the latest statistics provided to Congress, VETS handled 4,690 complaints from fiscal 2001 to fiscal 2004. While it closed 90 percent of the cases, veterans received positive outcomes or came to a mutual agreement in only 26 percent of the cases between 2001 and 2003, according to records obtained by Insight.

While the Labor Department certainly has a better batting record than the OSC, private industry appears to believe it has failed effectively to market veterans' skills for the civilian workforce. In fact, there is growing concern that many of the veterans returning from their tour of duty may find themselves unemployed and, in some cases, even homeless. Shelters across the nation already have reported at least 17 homeless veterans from the war in Iraq.

"The greatest generation has become the forgotten generation," says Wes Poriotis, chairman of Wesley, Brown & Bartle, a major New York City-based executive search firm that specializes in helping vets transfer their skills to the civilian workforce. Poriotis is frustrated that the Labor Department has no plan of action to match a veteran's skills with appropriate jobs. He characterizes the government's plan as the "tin-cup approach," where employers are bombarded with pleas to hire a vet out of pity and not because "if you don't bring these excellent workers on board, the local competition will eat your lunch."

Poriotis believes vets are being underemployed. "Look, I got a problem when a veteran of a nuclear submarine is reduced to doing menial labor," he says. "The military spends $600 million in advertising on the recruitment of volunteers into the services. Ironically, little or no advertising dollars are spent to create an engine to propel military-service members into appropriate jobs in the private sector."