Gioia reveals vet employment plan

On Veterans Day, Tuesday, November 11, Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens) rallied support for his plan to place returning veterans in city jobs.
Gioia provided details of his plan, which would target mainly the city’s 8,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, at the monthly meeting of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce.
Called New York City Veterans Employment Training Sponsorship (NYCVETS), the program would direct city agencies to set aside yearlong paid internships at city agencies, explained Eric Koch, spokesperson for Gioia.
“NYCVETS will go a long way toward ensuring that the many important skills our soldiers learn in the military transfer to a long and prosperous career in civilian life,” said Gioia. “Like everyone else, they are entitled to the American Dream.”
During the internship, the veterans would also receive mentoring from a civilian professional, Koch added. In a recent letter to the city, Gioia urged Mayor Michael Bloomberg to implement NYCVETS.
“We strongly support Councilman Gioia’s plan and will do everything in our power to see that it is fully implemented, and that it expands to other sectors of the economy,” said Ray Healey, co-founder of the New York City-based Veterans Across America, an organization that helps veterans from all over the country compete for quality employment.
A recent survey conducted by Military.com, an organization that connects American military members and veterans, shows the need for an employment program, said Koch.
Eighty-one percent of those questioned (4,442 soldiers) said they were not fully prepared to enter the civilian workforce, according to Military.com’s survey. Nearly 70 percent of the respondents reported an inability to translate the skills they learned in the military into civilian life.
Over 60 percent of the employers who participated in the survey said that veterans need assistance on the civilian job market. Returning vets could also face psychological problems. Psychological experts estimate that as many as 30 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, further complicating their transition to civilian life.
Gioia’s program is based on a similar one implemented in Los Angeles last year. The Los Angeles program has placed more than 100 veterans in city jobs and has fielded over 1,000 applications, Gioia said.