DATA: Young veterans among the hardest hit financially by the pandemic

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Data from Syracuse University again highlights just how much of a struggle it can be for veterans to transition back to civilian life.

This year, the research shows that unemployment claims for veterans ages of 18 and 24 doubled from 7.5% to 15.1%.

“I felt I was going to be an easy transition,” said North Carolina for Military Employment Operations Director Sean Cox, a retired sergeant major, himself. “I quickly found out after submitting numerous applications and resumes to a lot of different companies that that was not the case.”

Cox said he found it difficult to explain the skills he learned in the marine corps to civilian employers. Terms used in his trade were often not familiar to people without military backgrounds but often exactly what they were looking for.

He eventually landed the job he has now and uses that experience to help other veterans struggling on the same path.

“The lack of structure in the civilian world, as opposed to the structure they have to deal with in the military,” said NC Works Career Adviser Georgia Humphreys. “The salaries are a big adjustment because, in the military, a person has a lot of benefits that are associated with being on active duty.”

Those benefits include housing, food costs, and better healthcare that they now have to figure out how to work into their new civilian job budget.

“The primary objective for us is to educate employers on why we should hire veterans and the valued proposition in hiring veterans,” said Cox.

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