Bruce Gordon Visits Job Fair For Veterans

Another day, another jobs fair. In this tough economy, employment "meet-n-greets"  are held all the time making them easy to ignore. 

Fox 29's Bruce Gordon found an event in Coatesville, for workers who both need and deserve help, getting back to work. 

We are talking about military veterans, and the numbers tell the story: National unemployment rate at 8.2 percent.

Jobless rate for all veterans, actually a bit lower at 7.8 percent. But recent vintage vets those who've served since 9/11 are a whopping 12.7 percent unemployed. 

William Perez left a four year stint in the air force back in February. He's been looking for regular work ever since.

Perez was among hundreds of veterans who packed this VA hall for a midday jobs fair featuring nearly fifty local employers.

Recent vintage vets are having a particularly tough time moving from military to civilian work. There are few jobs to be had, and they've been out of the game for several years.

Ironically, employers who've hired from this VA jobs fair in the past, give vets high marks.

This fair included seminars on resume writing, interviewing skills and 'how to network.' The military has already taught these folks perseverance. 

The government offers a variety of tax breaks and other inducements to get employers to hire vets. But despite all of our talk about honoring their service, we still allow far too many to go from the front line, to the unemployment line.