America SUPPORT OUR HEROES Walmart Wants You!
The retailer gives veterans a first crack at jobs.
W BY GEORGETTE MOSBACHER
almart has long been the subject of (mostly unfair) criti- cism for a range of
alleged corporate sins, but the megare- tailer recently announced a policy that is indisputably praiseworthy. Begin- ning on Memorial Day, Walmart will hire any returning U.S. military vet- eran who wants a job. All told, the campaign will off er employment to as many as 100,000 veterans over the next fi ve years. It matters not if Walmart’s U.S.
CEO, William Simon, took this step to burnish his company’s public stand- ing, or to bolster the bottom line and boost his bonus, or out of the goodness of his heart. Walmart is addressing a genuine national blemish. America has been failing its vet-
erans. After 9/11, thousands upon thousands of its best young men and women went off to war in distant locales and harsh climates. Every one of them volunteered.
Every one risked his or her life and spent years away from friends, family, and comfort to keep Americans and their liberties secure. America owes its veterans a great deal, yet the country hasn’t been providing them even a good deal. For years, soldiers returning home
from the battlefi eld have found an economy in crisis, with jobs and oppor- tunity scarce. The unemployment rate in the U.S. today is stuck around 8
34 NEWSMAX | MAY 2013
LEADERSHIP ROLE Walmart reps speak to veterans at a Hiring Our Heroes job fair.
percent, but for veterans of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan it is approxi- mately 11 percent. For female Iraq and Afghanistan veterans it exceeds 15 percent. And for those veterans who can’t
fi nd a job and must turn to family or welfare for sustenance, the experience can be shattering.
U.S. Unemployment Rates 15% 11% 8% Civilians Male Female Veterans Veterans The suicide rate among veterans is
sharply higher than it is among active- duty soldiers. No one has a complete explana-
tion for the increase in suicides, but the hopelessness of unemployment almost certainly plays a role in some cases. Walmart deserves more than
applause — it deserves to be emulated by every other Fortune 500 company. Every business and every business owner has benefi ted from the brav- ery and sacrifi ce of America’s armed forces. It is time to return the favor. CEOs across the country should
order their human-resources depart- ments to bring America’s veterans to the head of the line. Most returning soldiers are disci-
plined individuals with proven skills and the ability to acquire new ones. Even if a job isn’t the perfect match
for a particular veteran, these return- ing soldiers should get the fi rst chance at appropriate openings as they come along. That is what Walmart is provid- ing — along with a national model of corporate citizenship. Through its veterans campaign, the
company is rewarding its sharehold- ers and customers in ways that extend well beyond the balance sheet.
Georgette Mosbacher, the president and CEO of the Borghese cosmetics company, serves on the board of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. A version of this article appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES
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