(NAPSA)—A growing number of veteransare finding themselves on the road to a new career thanks to an organization that has represented the public transit industry for over 100 years. Workforce development—attracting, developing and retaining a diverse workforce—is thought by manyto be critical to the continuing success of the public transportation industry. The American Public Trans- portation Association (APTA) projects that over the next five years, the industry will face a severe shortage of skilled and seasoned employees as thousands of workers from the baby-boom generation approachretirement. Other significant workforce challenges include a generally tight labor market, an increase in technological requirements across job functions and the growing diversity of the workforce. Opportunities For Veterans In recent years, APTA has encouraged its membersto recruit veterans for careers in public transportation as a wayto fulfill their workforce needs. Said Flora Castillo, APTA Chair, “We have great employees who ensure our riders are safe and on time every day. We appreciate our employees who are veterans, as well as the other mem- bers of our diverse employee base—both technical and nontechnical—whobringtheir unique skills to our riders. These veterans have manytransferable skills that fit into public transportation and we welcome them to join our dynamic and growingindustry.” She added that in addition to bringing a wide range of skills and experience, veterans often have the ability to demonstrate exemplary leadershipskills. The U.S. Department of Defense has identified the public transportation industry as offering an array of career opportunities for veterans, including vehicle opera- iam CU a Experts say the public transportation industry will soon face a severe shortage of skilled employees as thousands of workers approachretirement age. tions, vehicle maintenance, facilities, track and road maintenance, safety and security, and clerical, telecommunications, administrative and managerialstaff. Hiring Our Heroes In order to help match the needs of the industry with the needs of veterans, the U.S. Cham- ber of Commerce Foundation created Hiring Our Heroes. This type of hiring fair, in which APTA has participated, attempts to recruit veterans and their spouses for positions across all sectors of the public transportation industry, including engineering, operations, manufactur- ing, technology and others. Said Castillo, “Our industry provides great opportunities for returning veterans, from communications officers, to maintenance, and accounting to operations, planning to IT, and of course engineering. Their leadership skills, work ethic and training are a perfect fit for our industry.” Other Workforce Initiatives APTA has a number of other programs designed to enhance workforce development, including an early career program, a midlevel managers magnification program, Leadership APTA for those with executive leadership career aspirations, and a student ambassador program for undergraduate students. To learn more about these programs, visit www.apta.com.
