Soldiers returning from Iraq and other countries they are being left without many work options after they return home. A new program called the VETalent program is coming into works to serve those who have served. The training is coming from the collaborative efforts of a few companies and sponsors. A few of those groups include Prudential Financial, Rutgers University, Penn State University-Abington and the University of Florida.

The VETalent classes will train returning soldiers for a career in information technology. Certain companies sponsor this initiative and then go onto hire graduates from the VETalent course. The soldiers that graduate from here are then given the chance to jump into full-time employment with one of the sponsoring businesses.

At least two million veterans are unemployed between the ages of 18-34. The percentages vary between the ages but that is still a lot of unemployed soldiers. “The unfortunate reality is unemployment rates for veterans are higher than the national average for non-veterans. This is a challenge corporate America should and can help address,” said Ray Weeks, vice president of Veterans Initiatives for Prudential Financial, Inc. “Veterans offer a distinct set of qualities and skills that can easily translate to the corporate workforce and add value to the organization.”

The vet program is doing so well that it is also expanding in other cities. Different classes have been launched in Pennsylvania and Florida operation centers. Not only are the veterans eligible for fulltime work after they complete the training but they are also given a certificate from the college they associated with. The company released the following statement:

“VETalent is a systemic approach to transitioning Veterans back into the workforce. We not only train Veterans for a new career, but we provide them with professional development and career guidance–something that other programs are not doing,” said Dr. Arthur Langer, founder and chairman of WOS. “We feel it is important to give something back to those who have given us so much.”

“We’re delighted to expand the program to new cities aligned with where we have employees and business operations. Our collaboration with Workforce Opportunity Services and these two prestigious universities will help ensure our veteran participants receive top notch training coupled with on-the-job experience at Prudential,” said Weeks. “While this year our three VETalent classes will prepare as many as 45 veterans for new careers in the corporate workplace, we recognize that we can’t solve this challenge for veterans on our own. Our program is a best practice model and we are actively working to share our insights with other corporations. We also seek ways to partner with businesses and government entities to address this challenge more broadly.”

Workforce Opportunity Services and Prudential Financial, Inc. are working together to create a program that is effective for returning soldiers. There are too many stories of soldier returning from overseas and having an unsuccessful time at finding work. Both companies have a mission to help provide jobs for soldiers and the goal is being accomplished.