[NPR] Starbucks to hire 10k Vets and Vet Spouses over next 5 years

[JNieman]

http://www.npr.org/2013/11/06/243325304/starbucks-is-latest-company-aiming-to-help-vets-land-jobs

In recent years, companies ranging from JPMorgan Chase to Walmart to Boeing have announced special hiring programs for veterans. Seattle coffee giant Starbucks is the latest.

All of these companies are trying to bring down a stubbornly high unemployment rate for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But to succeed, companies have to take the time to understand the skills of service members.

Rob Porcarelli is a staff attorney at Starbucks who helped dream up the plan announced Wednesday. Starbucks will hire at least 10,000 veterans or their spouses over the next five years.

Porcarelli was a prosecutor in the Navy in the 1990s. But when he started hunting for a civilian job, he encountered prejudice. "In one interview downtown, the head of the department said, 'You know, Rob, I think you're going to find more of the intellectual type in the law firm environment.' And I remember thinking, 'Maybe he's joking. Did he just call me and all my friends stupid?' "

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates sits on Starbucks' board. He says sometimes people coming out of the service have a hard time translating their skills. That's why the company will have a recruiter specialized in hiring service members.

 

[AustinBR]

I think this is great and all, but what position will the be offering veterans. I cannot see them wanting to work as a cashier or something equivalent...though a job in better than no job I guess.

 

[JNieman]

I think this is great and all, but what position will the be offering veterans. I cannot see them wanting to work as a cashier or something equivalent...though a job in better than no job I guess.

I know a decent few vets using their GI Bill to get an education who can't find a job to help them through it.

Also, as mentioned in the article, they do have a lot of legal, marketing, and advertising folks, so maybe it includes a preferential treatment to veterans applying for those positions. Not everyone at a company as big as Starbucks is a coffee maker.

Plus, I'm guessing managerial positions are not too bad. If you make it up to a store manager positions at some fast food chains, you are making pretty respectable middle class income.

Not every veteran is a go get'em ambitious person wanting to better their career potential - some just want a decent-enough check to live on, just like other folk.