FOCUSING ON VETERANS
DEED has resources and representatives through CareerForce in place to provide priority services for former military members in all CareerForce locations across the state. This includes help with setting career goals, pursuing education, or finding a job.
Veterans, active duty military service members and their spouses are also invited to participate in this year's Virtual Veterans Career Fair taking place on November 19.
LOCAL LOOK BLOGS FOR NOVEMBER
Veterans in the Twin Cities and across the state of Minnesota have shown they are ready, willing, and able to work in every industry sector and in every occupation. However, data shows that veterans are more likely than nonveterans to be employed in: installation, maintenance and repair; transportation and material moving; production; and construction occupations.
The U.S. military provides training in-house and with contractors to upskill enlisted and officer ranks into the most advanced fighting force in the world, and those skills are effective at more than defending our country. Skills at adapting and overcoming are a hallmark of American military personnel and these skills can hardly be overrated, especially during the current pandemic.
Veterans are important contributors to Minnesotan economies and communities, and a larger than average share of veterans calls Northeast Minnesota home. In 2019, there were an estimated 26,596 veterans in Northeast Minnesota, accounting for 8.2% of the population, according to the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA).
Including WWII vets, there were over 35,500 veterans living in Northwest Minnesota in 2018, according to the Census Bureau. The largest group of veterans in the region were from the Vietnam era, representing over 15,000 residents, with another 4,000 veterans from the Korean War era. Northwest Minnesota is home to about 10% of the state's veterans, though it has a higher share of veterans from the Vietnam and Korean wars, reflecting the region's aging population.
In the Southeast region, the labor force participation rate for working age veterans between 18 and 64 years was 82.6%. DEED staff wants to do all they can to serve those who have served in the U.S. military, including by offering job search and placement assistance.
Since the pandemic started in March through the week ending October 17, nearly 4,000 veterans had filed an application for Unemployment Insurance (UI) in Southwest Minnesota. Though the number of new UI applications filed by veterans has remained below 50 each week for the past two months, the cumulative count also means that nearly half of working-age veterans in the region have suffered some sort of economic disruption during the pandemic.
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