Federal agencies hiring more vets

Senior Obama administration officials said June 30 that thousands more veterans have recently been hired by agencies as part of the President’s Veterans Employment Initiative started in 2009. 

According to the Office of Personnel Management, the federal government hired 34,788 veterans in the first half of fiscal 2011 compared with 32,825 in the first half of fiscal 2010. Veterans were also 33.3 percent of total new hires across the federal government in the first half of fiscal 2011, OPM said.

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“We have successfully increased the percentage of veterans hired in the federal government,” OPM Director John Berry said in a statement.  “Due to general employment patterns, the first quarter numbers tend to spike, but we are still encouraged by the fact that in the first half of this fiscal year, our percentage of veterans hired is better than during the same segment of time in any of the last six years.”

President Barack Obama signed an executive order in November 2009 outlining the program that seeks to help federal agencies identify qualified veterans, clarify the hiring process for veterans seeking federal government employment and help them adjust to the civilian work environment.

In May 2011, the administration introduced “Mil2Feds,” the first military occupation to federal occupation translator online at Mil2FedJobs.com.

A website – www.FedsHireVets.gov – was also established in January 2010 as an information gateway on federal employment for veterans.