Barclays Supports Veterans Employment Transition

Military skills go beyond the battlefield, but civilian employers are failing to recognise their value.

New research indicates that the skills acquired through military service, such as leadership, adaptability and discipline, are not being utilised fully by companies employing ex-service people. As a result, the full value that veterans can bring to the civilian workplace is not being realised by employers.

Conducted amongst 782 veterans now in civilian employment, the research was commissioned to coincide with the launch of the Veterans Employment Transition Support programme, known as VETS.

VETS, with support from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Career Transition Partnership (CTP) is a pilot partnership between a coalition of willing companies and leading military charities. VETS is being launched today at the House of Commons by Ashok Vaswani, Chief Executive of Barclays Personal and Corporate Banking, and Stuart Tootal, Head of Barclays Armed Forces Transition, Employment & Resettlement (AFTER) Programme.

Working within the existing landscape of employment transition support available to veterans, VETS seeks to collaborate and share best practice to improve and optimise employment outcomes for veterans and employers alike. The VETS programme provides end-to-end transition support, offering veterans mentoring, CV and interview skills, training, work experience and job opportunities. For employers, advice is offered on how to recruit veterans and support is provided to help get the best from veterans in their workforce.

The research shows that only around a fifth (22%) of the veterans surveyed feel that their current employer fully recognises the skills and experience they possess, and understands how these skills benefit the workplace and can add value to a business.

The findings also reveal that nearly a third (31%) of veterans do not feel their current job is challenging. Of those who are not satisfied in their current civilian role, over three fifths (61%) feel that their skills are not being fully utilised by their employer. Furthermore, more than four in ten (42%) veterans felt they took a step backwards when entering the workforce. With 12,000 -20,000 individuals leaving the UK Armed Forces every year, there are hundreds of thousands of veterans of working age that may not be optimising their skills and abilities, resulting in a missed opportunity for them, employers and the economy at a time when skills shortages are a challenge for the UK. 

The challenges facing veterans in civilian employment do not end at their skills going unrecognised. Other challenges identified by survey respondents when entering the civilian workforce include:

• Struggling to navigate the politics of a workplace (27%)
• Being unclear about career progression (26%)
• Not being able to explain their experience in a way civilian employers understand (17%)
• The attitudes of employers towards veterans (14%).

While over half (53%) of veterans surveyed said they received no assistance from their first employer in adjusting to the civilian workplace, many believe that a few simple measures would have helped their transition; greater support in translating their skills (28%), having a mentor (19%) and more feedback from potential employers (18%).

Veterans themselves recognise the valuable skills that can be developed while serving in the Armed Forces and see how they would benefit employers. Of these skills, veterans rate the following as having the greatest benefit to civilian employers:

1. Ability to work in a team (82%)
2. Problem-solving skills (75%)
3. Ability to work under pressure (74%)
4. Adaptability (72%)
5. Professionalism (72%)
6. Leadership (69%).

Find out more about VETS and how it can help youFind out more about VETS (new window) Contact the VETS team Email the VETS team (new window)Learn more about Barclays’ support for the military community through our AFTER programmeAFTER programme (new window)