HIRING 5,000 HEROES

Yesterday, job fairs for military veterans took place in New York, Chicago and Fort Hood, Texas.  In New York the job fair was held at the Intrepid Air & Space Museum.  There, over 5000 veterans and military spouses connected with more than 100 employers.  A total of 23,000 veterans and military spouses attended Hiring Our Heroes events.

 

Companies came with job opportunities in hand, including rock band KISS.  They received over 500 applicants for their roadie job.  Comcast was there. NBC Universal pledge to hire 1000 veterans over the next three years.

 

Over 400 more job fairs are being held across the country.  Military.com and Monster.com are holding virtual career fairs for veterans and military spouses; over 19,000 people applied online.

The campaign was held by the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Chamber Foundation and Capital One, which has pledge $4.5MM to support job fairs and workforce training initiatives.  NBC has promoted this effort.

Andrea Mitchell reported that the veteran unemployment rate was 12.1% last year.