The U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced today that in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, the Executive Branch of Government hired the highest percentage of military veterans in over 20 years, surpassing the previous high set in FY 2011.  The numbers were contained in the report of Employment of Veterans in the Federal Executive Branch for Fiscal Year 2012, which was also released today.

The Government hired approximately 195,000 new employees in FY 2012 as compared to approximately 230,000 new employees in FY 2011 - a reduction of over 34,000 total hires.  Of those 195,000 FY 2012 hires, approximately 56,000 were veterans, equaling 28.9 percent of total hires.  This is a 4.9 percentage-point increase over the FY 2009 baseline of 24.0 percent and approximately 0.6 percentage points higher than the 28.3 percent realized in FY 2011.

In FY 2012, the number of veterans onboard represented 29.7 percent of the workforce. In FY 2009, approximately 25.8 percent of the workforce were veterans; this is approximately a 4 percentage-point increase in 3 years.

On November 9, 2009, President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13518, Employment of Veterans in the Federal Government, establishing the Veterans Employment Initiative. The Initiative outlines the most comprehensive approach to improving employment opportunities for veterans ever undertaken by the Federal Executive Branch. It seizes on three central themes: 1) honor our obligations to our Nation’s veterans, 2) utilize the talents of veterans to help the Government meet today’s dynamic challenges, and 3) create a program worthy of emulation by the private sector.

Through the effective leadership of the Council on Veterans Employment, this Initiative continues to produce positive results by recruiting and employing our Nation’s veterans. 

The Employment of Veterans in the Federal Executive Branch for Fiscal Year 2012 can be found at: http://www.fedshirevets.gov/hire/hrp/reports/