Three Myths Prevent Employment Of Disabled Veterans (NAPSA)—Jon Zagami is a leader. He gets results. He motivates his peers and he works hard. Most employers would be grateful to have an employeelike him. Yet each year, many employers will turn down the opportunity to hire eligible candidates like Zagami, simply because of one factor: They are disabled veterans. Research from the Society for Human Resource Management shows that there are three key misperceptions that employers have about hiring wounded warriors like Zagami. These include lack of knowledge about how military skills translate into a civilian job, fear of post-traumatic stress disorder on job performance, and confusion that the cost of accommodationswill be high. During the next five years, more than 80,000 disabled veter- ans will be entering the workforce in search of jobs. Brig. Gen. David J. Bishop, Commanderofthe U.S. Army Warrior Transition Command, says that the Armyis doing all it can to help support the longterm successof veterans. Part of this support lies in the Army’s “Hire a Veteran” campaign, which aims to eliminate misper- ceptions that impede the employmentof disabled veterans through employer and veteran firsthand accounts and new research. “Our campaign aims to reduce anxiety around hiring a veteran and level the hiring field for our wounded warriors,” said Bishop. “Veterans bring discipline and leadership to any organization that they join. Employers and Disabled veteran Jon Zagami (left), who lives with post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury, leads a team meeting at Caterpillar Financial. their bottom line would benefit from their unique skills and experience in the workplace.” Timothy Warrington, a supervisor for the General Building Laborers’ Local 79, is featured in the campaign’s educational video. He hired disabled veteran William Plotner, who now works as a laborer for Tishman Construction at World Trade Center projects. Warrington says that Plotner is a benefit to the company and that other employers should give veterans a chancelike he did. “You know, we all want to put yellow magnets on ourcar. Weall want to say we support veterans and that we support the troops,” he said. “Well, it is easy to say that, it feels good to say that, but why don’t you just do it? Just do it. Hire the veteran.” For more information about hiring disabled veterans and to access an educational video and online employer toolkit, visit the U.S. Army Warrior Transition Command website, www.WTC. army.mil/employers.
