CompTIA Salutes Veterans – and the Firms That Hire Them

Heading into this Veterans Day weekend, we’d like to take a second to emphasize how important it is to support our nation’s veterans as they return home from war. The U.S. continues to suffer from high unemployment overall and veterans are no exception; as many as 850,000 veterans are currently out of work and a million more will be seeking employment in the next five years.

This is unfortunate, as veterans know what hard work is and frequently enter (or re-enter) the workforce with sought-after skills. So CompTIA has moved to assist veterans’ transition into the workforce with its Troops To Tech Careers program, which was launched this past spring. Since then, more than 8,000 veterans have participated, earning nearly 11,000 CompTIA certificates.

CompTIA has enlisted veterans itself. Justin Valentine, a representative in our member relations department, has served in the Army National Guard since 2008. Rick Bauer, director of research and development in our skills certification division, served in the U.S. Army as a cadet at West Point from 1973 to 1975 and was honorably discharged in November 1975.

What’s more, CompTIA members employ veterans. These companies have prioritized hiring IT certified veterans, and CDW, Atrion, Symantec and Zylog are among our most highly engaged member companies.

So this weekend, as we honor those who served, let’s remember too how essential it is that veterans make the transition from the battleground to business and help them get there.