Monterey, CA Veterans Have Tougher Time Finding A Job Than The General Population.

View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

The tough economy has hit most, and unemployment rates continue to be high.  Finding it tougher than others, however, are veterans coming back from war zones, as many of them are disabled.  The Monterey Herald profiled a number of veterans who attended the Project Hired career fair held at the Monterey Institute of International Studies on Friday.  Veterans, unfortunately, have a higher unemployment rate than the general population all across the country.  Bernadine Johnson, who works at the shoreline Workforce Development Centers in Salinas and Marina said she tries to forge alliances with local employers, but they often pay more lip service to hiring veterans than actually sending out job offers.  That's unfortunate.  Many of those who have served our country have great skills which are easily translated into the private sector like team building, language skills and being facile with technology.  They are obviously very hard workers who will go the extra mile to get the job done.  I hope that those veterans attending the job fair on Friday were able to convince employers that they can slide back into the workplace after working so hard to protect our country.