U.S. business vowing to hire unemployed veterans

Large U.S. business are vowing to step up their hiring of veterans behind a White House effort announced Friday that will provide tax incentives. 

During a speech at the Washington Navy Yard, President Obama challenged private-sector firms to hire 100,000 veterans through 2013 to help lower the persistently high unemployment rate among so-called Gulf War Era-II veterans (those serving since September 2001), which stood at 13.3 percent as of June.

"Citi is one firm that intends to hire as many as 500 veterans over the next 12 months, in addition to the 150 we have already hired this year," according to a memo obtained by The Hill sent to staff from Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit on Friday.

"Citi employs more than 1,500 veterans across our businesses," Pandit said in the memo. "In addition, we’re helping military families stay in their homes, offering professional development and mentoring to former service personnel, and recruiting veterans to come and work in the financial services sector and at Citi," he said.

Pandit said in the memo that the company has asked Chris Page, an Army veteran, to take on a new role and head up the firm's Citi Veterans Initiative, where he will oversee the Disabled Veterans Mortgage Relief Program, the North America Service Initiative and the Citi Military Network.

The memo also said that Citi Chairman Dick Parsons has been asked by first lady Michelle Obama and second lady Jill Biden to serve on the advisory board of Joining Forces, a national initiative to mobilize all sectors of society to support U.S. service members and their families.

Several other companies, including Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Accenture, JPMorgan and AT&T, are announcing new commitments to train or hire veterans.

"Citi has built a strong record in leading the effort to help military personnel and their families, and especially to hire veterans in key positions throughout this company," Pandit said. 

"It’s a record we’re all extremely proud of. And we’re pleased when those efforts are acknowledged. 

"But we realize there is more to do. And to do it, we need to devote more time and resources to the effort."

Microsoft said it will offer 10,000 technology training and certification packages to veterans over a two-year period, through a partnership with the Department of Labor. 

Siemens had pledged to fill about 3,500 open positions with veterans, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will create a National Veterans Employment Advisory Council, made up of of 25 of the nation's biggest employers.  

Accenture will offer a business training program to 250,000 people, including veterans, around the world by 2015.

The plan announced on Friday by the president would provide businesses with a “Returning Heroes” tax credit in 2012 and 2013 for hiring a veteran who has been unemployed for at least a month. The $2,400 credit would increase to $4,800 for each veteran hired who has been unemployed six months or longer.

The proposal also includes a two-year extension of the “Wounded Warriors” tax credit, which gives companies that hire veterans with service-related disabilities a $4,800 credit. If a veteran is this category has been unemployed for six months or more, the credit increases to $9,600.

Under the 2009 economic stimulus, employers who hired certain unemployed veterans were eligible for a tax credit of up to $2,400. This credit expired at the end of 2010.

The White House estimates the cost of the tax-credit program at $120 million over two years, depending on how many employers hire veterans.

The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments will develop programs to ensure that every member of the service receives the training, education and credentials they need to transition to the civilian workforce or pursue higher education.