Addressing Veteran Underemployment: A Case Study

Whether it’s due to insufficient transitional programs, limited opportunities for networking or difficulties translating military experiences into marketable skills, our service members often enter the hiring process a step behind their civilian counterparts. As a result, more than two-thirds of veteran employees surveyed in 2018 claimed to have a job that was “unequal to the level of skills and qualifications they have gained in the military.”

Thanks to the generosity of the Schultz Family Foundation, Thomas Mahnken, Professor of Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS, published a study this spring discussing veteran underemployment and the role that ACP plays in bridging the military-civilian divide. On September 2nd, the report was officially released, and General (Ret.) Jack Keane, a current ACP Advisory Council member and a former Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, joined Professor Mahnken via Zoom to discuss the study.