The JUST Report: Corporations Step Up On Veteran Hiring
Reports from CNBC, Axios, Politico and others regarding recent government cuts, including 1,400 employees at the VA per Fox News, have indicated that one group in particular appears to have been particularly affected by the downsizing: veterans.
One one hand it makes sense: last year veterans made up 28% of the federal workforce, per federal data, compared to just 5% in the private sector. Cuts to federal jobs would therefore naturally affect veterans on a disproportionate basis.
But it caught my eye for another reason, namely, that in the 2025 Rankings, company attention to veterans hiring was a growing area of activity.
For example, we saw a 4.5% increase from last year in the disclosure of a veterans hiring policy (39.8% of ranked companies disclosing vs. 35.3% in 2024). This was one of the highest net increases in a corporate workforce disclosure issue across the board. At an industry level, the Utilities sector leads the way, with 81% of the industry disclosing specific actions or initiatives geared to veterans. Aerospace & Defense, with 71%, was the next most active sector. In terms of specific programs, industries performing well on hiring veterans also had higher-than-average disclosure on related opportunity-generating policies like fair chance programs, restart programs, and apprenticeships.
This year’s top company, HPE, discloses a robust veterans hiring program, alongside major initiatives in the related areas. Other standouts include Walmart, and top 10 companies Accenture and HP, Inc. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a particularly strong veterans hiring policy, highlighting recruitment programs, as well as tailored banking services and community engagements. Other banks and financial services leaders include M&T Bank and Bank of New York (BNY).
Overall, it’s a good example of an issue where private sector leadership can make a big difference.
Be well,
Martin
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I think that right now people are underestimating just how much the world of work is about to change. In just three or four or five years, I could be talking to agents as much, if not more than I’m talking to my human colleagues today.”
- Slack Chief Marketing Officer Ryan Gavin speaking to Axios on the rise of AI agents in the workplace, speaking of a future where workers are talking to machines more than their human co-workers.
JUST In the News
In the wake of Meta authorizing 200% exec bonus increases after laying off 5% of their workforce, Benzinga cites our 2022 polling of American workers that found 87% of Americans believe the growing difference between CEO and worker pay is a problem.
The latest episode of Planet Money, “The controversy over Tyson Foods’ hiring of asylum seekers”, utilizes the wage data we collect to tell its story.
JUST AI
Apple is going to be hiring 20,000 new workers to produce AI servers in Texas to avoid increased costs from Trump’s China tariffs.
The Wall Street Journal takes aim at the claim that AI data centers will be a bedrock of new jobs, showing that while government and tech leaders say they will be an “employment bonanza”, data centers need “very few workers for very large spaces”.
Fortune posits that despite all the claims of productivity boosting, one major thing is missing from the debates on AI’s workforce impact – actual worker productivity stats.
MUST READS
CNBC has revealed its 2025 CNBC Changemakers – the list of women transforming the world of business, featuring several execs from JUST 100 companies.
Fortune reports that Apple shareholders have rejected a proposal to end the company’s DEI program. Meanwhile, John Deere pulls a similar move, with shareholders refusing an anti-DEI proposal that would reveal worker demographic data.
Per the New York Times, Starbucks is laying off 1,000 corporate employees.
The CEO of Alcoa has warned that President Trump’s threatened tariffs on aluminum could put almost 100,00 U.S. jobs at risk. The Wall Street Journal has the story.
Bloomberg reveals that New York fathers are much less likely to take their state-available paid parental leave, leaving $1.6 billion on the table every year.
CHART OF THE WEEK
Cometrics crunches the data on LinkedIn to see which companies are actually concerned about ethics in AI and which just appear to be following a trend.
