GM and Raytheon team up to offer job training for veterans

ARLINGTON, Va. — Approximately 130,000 soldiers will leave the Army this year. Over the next 10 years, 1 million will leave. To help them find jobs, the Army is teaming with private companies to offer training to troops transitioning to civilian life.

“These men and women have sacrificed so much and I think it’s very clear that we owe them all a great deal,” says Steve Hill, vice president of North American Sales and Service at General Motors.

GM and Raytheon are joining hands to offer soldiers who are transitioning to civilian life automotive technician training.

It’s a natural fit for Raytheon, which provides training to U.S. Army soldiers around the world and also is the training source for General Motors automotive techs.

“We know that our veterans leaving the armed services face very grim unemployment rates,” says Lynn Dugle, vice president of Raytheon.

The unemployment rate among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is at 7 percent, nearly a point higher than the overall jobless rate. And while jobless rates are falling among military veterans this year, they’re not falling as fast as the unemployment rate for non-veterans.

The size of the military is shrinking and more and more veterans will be joining the labor force in the years ahead.

“We want our soldiers to start strong

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