15,200 More Reasons Why Your Next Hire Should be a Veteran

There are many sound reasons to hire Military Veterans. In fact, here are 10 fantastic ones; staples of the argument really. However, in all of my discussions with folks in the know, and in all of the LinkedIn Pulse posts about hiring Veterans, only ever mentioned this to me...there are an additional 15,200 reasons to hire a Veteran.

$15,200 is the potential total of tax credits every organization, regardless of size, could receive if they hire a Veteran. The Returning Heroes Tax Credit provides businesses that hire unemployed veterans with a maximum credit of $5,600 per veteran, and the Wounded Warriors Tax Credit offers businesses that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities with a maximum credit of $9,600 per veteran. These tax credits (full details here) were included in the American Jobs Act and were signed into law by the President of the United States (POTUS) on November 21, 2011.

I was surprised to learn this, and once I did, thought I should get the word out. Especially considering it's been a law on the books since 2011 and no one, at least that I've heard in the popular press or 24-7 news cycle, has talked about it.

Business leaders need to know this, at scale. They're leaving money on the table, and many Veterans underemployed/unemployed. I thought a potential $15,200 per Veteran they hire might help change their minds, and potentially the game. It's easy to do...watch. Multiply that figure times 27,500, the number of Veterans projected for unemployment this year (275,000 X 11%), and we arrive at $418 Million USD; or 418 more million reasons our organizations should be hiring Veterans.