July 25, 2024 is National Hire a Veteran Day. Founded by a marine corps veteran in 2017, the day serves as a call to action for hiring companies and also to encourage veteran job applicants – of which there are potentially hundreds of thousands potential workers. Every year, approximately 200,000 men and women leave US military service to return to life as civilians who need jobs that use or align with the skills they’ve learned in the military – skills they can utilize in the construction industry. Construction careers can take advantage of the technical skills that veterans have, especially in positions like skilled trades and as supervisors.
The construction industry can also benefit from hiring more veterans. The industry is growing in several sectors, including single-family housing, manufacturing, k-12 construction and federal infrastructure, according to AGC’s June 2024 US Construction Outlook. Yet a big challenge remains – finding and hiring workers to meet demand. With the current pressing need for construction companies to find more workers, hiring more veterans could help fill a huge gap with workers that already have many of the skills construction companies want.
Why Veterans Make Great Construction Employees
As members of the military, veterans learn transferable skills that benefit the construction industry, which is why construction careers for military veterans make perfect sense. According to the National Center for Construction Education and Research, these skills include:
- Leadership Skills – The military’s hierarchical system helps train leaders within each rank and teaches how to communicate with and inspire people.
- Team Players – Military units are all about working together to achieve a common goal. Veterans are also used to working in diverse groups.
- Quickly Adapt – The military is unpredictable, giving veterans the ability to quickly adapt to changing situations. Veterans are flexible and can pick up new information quickly on the jobsite.
- Self-Motivated – Highly disciplined, veterans hold themselves accountable and require less supervision, making them ideal for a field-based workforce.
- Reliability – Veterans understand commitment and how their actions affect others so they’re more likely to be relied upon at work.
- Good Organization Skills – Veterans are used to thinking strategically, making them good project managers on construction sites.
- Task-Orientated Mindset – Veterans learn to prepare for assignments, no matter the obstacles. Veterans are able to adapt to the harsh conditions of a construction site, as well as other unforeseen circumstances.
- Heavy Machinery Operation – Many veterans have experience operating heavy machinery like bulldozers and cranes.
- Ability to Meet Deadlines – Veterans are used to completing tasks while dealing with time constraints and stressful conditions.
How to Hire More Veterans
Employers can start by reviewing the DOL’s resources for hiring veterans. The DOL’s Regional Veterans Coordinators work with employers to help find veteran employees. The DOL also offers an Employer Guide to Hiring Veterans which outlines how to make a plan to hire veterans and offers best practices, like how to create a veteran mentorship program and how to craft veteran-friendly job descriptions.
For example, veterans are often driven by purpose and having a mission – highlighting key components of your organization will appeal to this mindset. Shift the descriptions to be “competency-based” versus requiring a certain number of years of experience.
Once you have a well-drafted job description, Arcoro’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS) can post job openings to veteran-specific job boards, giving construction companies the ability to directly target veterans. ATS users can also create custom QR codes that link veteran candidates directly to your custom application. Plus, the ATS tracks all your applicants and hire, essential for compliance with federal regulations like the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA).
VEVRAA applies to federal contractors and subcontractors with a contract amount of $100,000 or more and 50 or more employees. It prohibits employment discrimination against protected veterans, which includes those who served on active duty in the US military who did not receive a dishonorable discharge.
Hiring more veterans makes good business sense for construction companies. Veterans come with a myriad of skills and can help fill the gap left by retiring Baby Boomers. Consider widening your recruiting scope to target more veterans.
Arcoro and ExakTime are committed to helping construction companies meet their changing needs, whether they are recruitment and retention or simply managing their workforces more efficiently like with digital time tracking.
Read this article by Arcoro’s Mark Meier recently published in Contractor to learn more.
“Veterans, Military Members are the Answer to the Construction Industry’s Labor Woes”