First Lady's Announcement Meets President's Challenge One Year Early
WASHINGTON – Today, First Lady Michelle Obama
traveled to Naval Station Mayport, Florida to announce that more than 2,000
businesses who have participated in her Joining Forces initiative have hired or
trained more than 125,000 veterans and military spouses in the past year.
Mrs. Obama also announced that these same
companies have committed to build on the momentum to date and have pledged to
hire or train 250,000 veterans and spouses in the coming years.
The First Lady’s event at Naval Station Mayport
was livestreamed by the Department of Defense to every U.S. military base
around the world.
One year ago, the President announced a series
of measures to increase veterans’ employment and he asked the First Lady and
Dr. Biden to lead an effort with the private sector through Joining Forces to
hire or train 100,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2013.
The administration noted that Joining Forces
efforts to date have exceeded the President’s challenge to the private sector
with hiring milestones met more than a year early.
The First Lady also reiterated her challenge to
states to pass legislation that reduces the financial and administrative
strains that 100,000 military spouses incur from trying to get their state
licenses or certification credentials to transfer from state to state as they
move.
Mrs. Obama and Dr. Jill Biden made their pitch
to governors in February of this year when only 11 states had legislation on
the books supporting military spouse license portability.
In just six months the number of states with
supportive measures in place has more than doubled to 26 states.
“The story of Joining Forces is of people across
this country stepping up and doing everything they can to serve military
families as well as they have served this country,” said the First Lady.
“Today’s announcement is just the beginning.
We’re not going to stop until all our veterans know that when they hit the job
market, their skills will be rewarded. And we won’t stop until all our military
spouses know that the next time their family is transferred, they won’t have to
leave their profession behind.”
Companies are making new commitments to veteran
employment every week. The following companies are new among the 2,000
businesses that are recognizing that hiring veterans is good for their bottom
line:
NatLabs, Inc. committed to bring 400 jobs back
to the U.S. from overseas starting in 2013 and hire veterans as 75 percent of
their labor force. These 400 jobs in hi-tech manufacturing will be located in
the Jacksonville, Florida, area.
Companies like, Dupont and Exelon have made
commitments to have veterans constitute 10 percent of their new hires in the
coming years.
The Military Spouse Employment Partnership
(MSEP) – consisting of more than 140 companies – is committed to hire 50,000
military spouses in the coming years.
This unique partnership is coordinated by the
Department of Defense and consists of companies who have pledged to hire
military spouses and support their continued employment and professional
development by transferring a spouse’s job with them when they move to a new
military duty station.
Visit the following website for more information on MSEP:
A complete list of every company and their
commitment to veteran and military spouse employment through Joining Forces can
be found at www.joiningforces.gov/commitments.
Image courtesy of http://cir.usc.edu/archives/tag/michelle-obama.
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