Leslee Guzman, BTS talent acquisitions, gives Senior Airman Ashley Hogan, 88th Force Support Squadron manpower analyst, information about career opportunities during the Hiring Our Heroes Job Fair April 27, 2023, at the Hope Hotel & Richard C. Holbrooke Conference Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s annual hiring event helps transitioning service members, veterans and military spouses find employment. (Elizabeth Figueroa/U.S. Air Force)

Business owners and hiring managers bellyaching about labor shortages, take note: Military veterans could be the answer to your employment woes.

Tuesday is National Hire a Veteran Day. Marine veteran and founder of the nonprofit Hire Our Heroes, Dan Caporale, launched the day in 2017 as a call to action for employers to hire more veterans. Leadership, teamwork and other skills learned in the armed forces can give veterans an edge in the civilian workplace.

There are an estimated 16.5 million living veterans in the U.S. as of 2021, or roughly 6% of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Of these, 11.9 million are disabled, 2.1 million suffer from mental health issues and more than 40,000 are homeless, according to the National Association of American Veterans.

Each year approximately 200,000 veterans leave the military and return to civilian life, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. As of June, the veteran unemployment rate was 2.7%, the department reported — less than the non-veteran unemployment rate of 3.5%.

While that is up slightly from May’s veteran unemployment rate of 2.6%, overall the number has been gradually falling in the last decade-plus. In 2010, 8.7% of the veteran population was unemployed compared with 2.8% in 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Some resources for veteran job-seekers:

• https://www.fedshirevets.gov/

• https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/veterans/

• https://www.hiringourheroes.org/

• https://hireveterans.com/

• https://veteransconnect.com/

• https://www.hireheroesusa.org/

• https://hireourheroes.org/