The news since Monday has been dominated by, who else, but Trump and specifically his taking too long to honor the late Sen. John McCain with a respectful statement and the lowering of flags in honor of his military service. Then today, Trump is back in the news, this time for hate-tweeting Google over what he sees as perceived bias in search results, via his unfounded claim the company is suppressing positive search results about him.
All of which presents such a contrast to an initiative Google rolled out today — the launch of a tool for veterans, to help them find jobs and get back into their workforce. You know, the kind of thing Uncle Sam used to prioritize, as did all those politicians who promised to “support the troops” and all the other jingoistic sloganeering.
Google Cloud program manager Matthew Hudson, who spent seven years in the Air Force as a civil engineer and did multiple tours of duty in the Middle East, made the announcement on Google’s behalf via a blog post. “Starting today,” he explains, “service members can search ‘jobs for veterans‘ on Google and then enter their specific military job codes (MOS, AFSC, NEC, etc.) to see relevant civilian jobs that require similar skills to those used in their military roles.
“We’re also making this capability available to any employer or job board to use on their own property through our Cloud Talent Solution. As of today, service members can enter their military job codes on any career site using Talent Solution, including FedEx Careers, Encompass Health Careers, Siemens Careers, CareerBuilder and Getting Hired.”
This effort has partly emerged thanks to Grow with Google, the company’s initiative to create opportunities for Americans across different fields. It’s also a result of the fact that, as Hudson explains, there isn’t a kind of “common language” to help recruiters match a veteran’s experience with the need for their skills and leadership in civilian jobs.
As a result, Hudson continues, 1 in 3 veterans out of the roughly 250,000 service members who transition out of the military each year end up taking jobs well below their skill level.
The new effort from Google isn’t just about finding veterans jobs, however. The search giant says it’s also now offering a new attribute through Google My Business, on Google Maps and Search mobile listings, for businesses to identify as veteran-owned or led. That’s useful especially for people who want to support veteran-led businesses.
As if all that’s not enough, Google is also giving a $2.5 million grant to the USO (United Service Organizations) that’s meant to provide training and career guidance in IT support.
“I’m proud that my fellow veteran Googlers and I had the chance to provide input on these tools to make sure we’re best serving those who so dutifully served our country,” Hudson says. “Google is committed to creating opportunities for everyone, and with today’s announcements, we hope our technology can help make transitioning to civilian life a little bit easier.”
