Jobs for Unemployed Veterans
After 18 years in the Army, Jeff was medically retired and having the all-too-common experience of struggling to find work after service. The happy ending began when social media connected him with one of his former soldiers who was a manager at Walmart.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, just over 7,000 -- 4.5 percent of the 164,000 veterans in Oklahoma's work force -- are unemployed. But there's another 152,000 veterans who aren't considered in the work force, which means they're either not looking for jobs, or have given up looking.
"I would like to see us do better," said State Senator Frank Simpson, "because I think military people bring some unique skills with them that maybe their civilian counterparts don't have."
Sen. Simpson, R-Springer, a veteran himself, is trying to help. In 2015, Simpson sponsored legislation allowing private companies to do what state agencies were already doing -- give hiring preference to veterans.
"Walmart worked very closely with me on that legislation," Simpson recalled, "because they had had success with it in other states."
And they're having success with it now in Oklahoma, as well.
