Washington, DC - The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released a government wide Strategic Plan to increase support and access for Veterans seeking employment with the Federal government.  The plan is part of President Obama’s Veterans Employment Initiative, a pragmatic, straightforward approach to helping the men and women who have served our country in the military find employment as civilians in the Federal Government.

“This is America’s first strategic blueprint to increase and support the hiring of Veterans throughout the Federal workforce,” said OPM Director John Berry.  “This plan aggressively dismantles barriers for Veterans seeking Federal employment.  Additionally, it provides ongoing career support to Veterans working within the Federal workforce and specifically looks to support new veterans as they adjust to civilian work life.”

OPM convened senior leaders from the Departments of Defense, Labor, Veterans Affairs, Commerce, Homeland Security, Treasury, and Transportation to develop the plan.

They worked together to break through past veterans employment barriers through:

1.       Leadership Commitment - establishes a governance structure dedicated solely to the employment of Veterans in the Federal Government;

2.       Skills Development and Employment - focuses on providing employment counseling and aligning the talents and aspirations of Veterans and transitioning service members with civil service career opportunities;

3.       Marketing Veterans’ Employment - creates a marketing campaign targeted to Veterans and transitioning service members on the benefits of continuing their careers with the Federal civil service as well as targeted to hiring officials on how Veterans can meet skills demands in their organizations; and

4.       Information Gateway - creates a single-source website (www.FedsHireVets.gov) for disseminating accurate and consistent Veteran employment information and resources for Veterans, human resources (HR) professionals and hiring officials.

On November 09, 2009, OPM Director John Berry joined President Obama as he signed the Executive Order on the Employment of Veterans in the Federal Government, which established the Veterans Employment Initiative for the executive branch. The Initiative underscores to Federal agencies the importance of recruiting and training veterans, increases the promotion of employment opportunities within the executive branch to veterans of the armed forces, and helps recently hired veterans adjust to service in a civilian capacity.

At the end of Fiscal Year 2008, there were approximately 480,000 veterans working within the Federal government.

For more information, visit:

www.FedsHireVets.gov

http://www.fedshirevets.gov/pdf/Vets_Initiative_Strategic_Plan.pdf