Walmart To Hire 100,000 Veterans

Great news today: Walmart pledged to hire any returning military veteran who wants a job with the company, so long as he or she has an honorable discharge.

The company’s U.S. CEO Bill Simon, a Navy veteran, said during a retail conference that Walmart intends to hire 100,000 veterans over the next five years -- one of the largest hiring commitments for veterans in history.

"We believe Walmart is already the largest private employer of veterans in the country, and we want to hire more," Simon said in the New York Daily News. "Hiring a veteran can be one of the best decisions any of us can make...Veterans have a record of performance under pressure. They're quick leaders and they're team players."

This announcement comes at the right time.

Veteran unemployment is a significant problem, with the jobless rate for post-9/11 veterans at nearly 11% in December, three percentage points higher than the overall rate, according to Fox Business News.

I’m grateful that the world’s largest retailer is going to help our veterans. I encourage many other companies to step up and do the same.  They need to do it for our veterans who have sacrificed so much for our nation.  

Richard VanHouten is the founder and CEO of Veterans Support Organization.