Thank you.
Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you for inviting us here today to share our recommendations on enhancing transition services for our veterans.
My name is Scott Byrne, and I'm the director of Monster Government Solutions strategy and client management with Monster Canada. I'll be sharing my time here today with retired navy Admiral Greg Smith, president of Military.com and vice-president of Monster Worldwide.
He will provide the committee with an overview of how Monster's partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense, the private sector, and non-profit organizations has resulted in a highly valuable set of online resources, tools, and services for military service personnel transitioning back to civilian life, many after years of combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We know that Canada's military veterans face many of the same challenges, notably translating the skills they have developed and mastered while in service into the skills needed by employers here in Canada. We also know, sadly, that this lack of clear translation results in higher than normal unemployment and, equally frustrating or more frustrating, underemployment. We all accept that the more tangible skills of leadership, commitment, self-discipline, teamwork, adherence to standards, staying focused under pressure, and eagerness to take on new challenges are all attributes that every employer wants in an employee. But how does a 30-year-old service member demonstrate those valued attributes in an application process? Equally important, how does a recruiter or supervisor who never served in the military see these intangible attributes in a veteran's application?
While service members recognize their leadership and management potential, recognition and understanding of these qualities within human resources departments is severely lacking. A recent Veterans Transition Advisory Council survey of 850 corporate human resources departments in Canada revealed that only 13% of the respondents said they knew how to read a resumé from a military veteran applicant.
The veteran pool of talent is unique and skilled and would certainly serve as a significant asset to Canadian employers if we could unlock the veteran's full civilian potential. The federal government has an opportunity to bridge this gap by investing in a tool that interprets an individual's military skills, experience, and training and matches them with prospective employers.
Monster has developed and deployed such a tool, the military skills translator. Admiral Smith will provide a few more details in just a moment. Some of your colleagues in other committees have referenced the importance of bringing such a tool to Canada.
Recommendation 32 of the June 2014 report of the Standing Committee on National Defence, “Caring for Canada's Ill and Injured Military Personnel”, calls on the government to “develop a comprehensive, algorithmic, military skills translation software tool to facilitate CF members to obtain civilian employment upon release.”
Further, recommendation 47 of the December 2014 Report on the Standing Committee on Finance, “Towards Prosperity: Federal Budgetary Priorities for People, Businesses and Communities” calls on the federal government to “maintain its strong support for veterans by providing key investments and services, and by exploring new ways to connect veterans with jobs after their service, such as a military skills translator.”
l will now hand this over to Admiral Smith who will talk about the specifies of our skills translator.