U.S. Employers Score High Marks for Tracking Veterans in their Workforce, Yet Few Reaching Federal Hiring Goals

Jul 12, 2016

Latest Disability Employment Tracker™ from the National Organization on Disability Reveals Mixed Results on the Hiring of American Veterans

NEW YORK (July 12, 2016) – While new data from the National Organization on Disability (NOD) shows companies are increasingly tracking the veteran status of their employees and referencing veterans in their diversity policies, the reality is only one in four companies who responded to the annual survey have reached a 7% veteran employment target established by the U.S. Department of Labor. The remaining 75% still have work to do in order to achieve those hiring goals for America’s veterans, according to data from NOD’s 2016 Disability Employment Tracker™ survey.

“The Tracker data tells us that many employers are doing the right things, like establishing veteran-specific employee resource groups and using their human resource information systems to better track the number of veterans in their workforce,” said NOD President Carol Glazer. “But for many companies, it’s not necessarily translating to hiring enough veterans. We know from NOD’s partnership with the Army, through our Wounded Warrior Careers program, that hiring veterans, who often arrive at the workplace with both visible and invisible disabilities, takes a concerted, systematic effort. That’s why we make available free toolkits for employers to help them both hire and retain veterans with disabilities.”

Resources available at www.NOD.org include an Employers Guide for Welcoming Veterans and Service Members Home and Tools for America’s Best, among other research-based materials.

The Disability Employment Tracker™ is a free tool for employers to confidentially assess their disability and veteran inclusion practices. Survey respondents receive a free and customized Disability Employment Tracker™ Scorecard that provides key benchmarks and leading practices in disability employment. The Tracker represents a diverse cross-section of U.S.-based employers, including:

• 41% Fortune 500 companies
• 78% Federal contractors
• 95% of all companies completed the optional veterans section
• Representation from finance, manufacturing, healthcare services/pharmaceutical, commercial/professional services, technology and equipment, food/agriculture, and many others
• Workforce size:
  • 28% > 50,000
  • 34% between 10,000 & 50,000
  • 13% between 1,000 & 10,000
  • 25% < 1,000

Among the key veteran-related findings from the 2016 Disability Employment Tracker™:

• The number of companies referencing veterans in their diversity policies continues to grow (89% vs. 72% in 2014)
• Use of veteran-specific employee resource groups remains strong (68%)
• More and more companies are tracking the number of veterans in their workforce, with nearly 90% of respondents tracking veteran status in their HRIS
• Only about a quarter of 2016 respondents report 7% of employees identify as veterans

For companies interested in participating in the Tracker, simply visit www.NOD.org/Tracker.