Chart of the Week: Companies With Policies to Actively Recruit Veterans Outperform Those Without

By Mona Patni and Charlie Mahoney

With Memorial Day weekend approaching, we should take time to remember and honor the lives of our fallen servicemen and women of the U.S. Armed Forces. And while we are forever indebted to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation, it is critical to continue supporting our veterans who have left the service and entered the workforce. According to the 2018 U.S. Census, there are roughly 18 million Americans, or about 7% of the adult population, who were veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces in 2018. The Home Depot (#84 in the JUST 100) stands out as a company that’s gone the extra mile, employing over 35,000 veterans and pledging $500 million to veteran causes by 2025, but not all corporations we track have policies in place to actively recruit veterans. Our chart this week takes a look at all companies in the Russell 1000 that have corporate disclosure on veteran hiring policies relative to those without.

Of the 928 companies we ranked in our 2021 Rankings, there are 348 that provide veteran hiring disclosure and they outperform those that do not by 6.5% over the trailing year.

In addition to performance, we analyzed the two portfolios’ profitability ratios, which are financial metrics used by analysts and investors to measure and evaluate the ability of a company to generate income (profit) relative to revenue, balance sheet assets, operating costs, and shareholders’ equity. A higher ratio or value is commonly sought after by most companies, as this means the business is performing well by generating revenues, profits, and cash flow.

Based on data for the Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Capital (ROC) across the different cases, ROE, ROA, and ROC are higher for companies that have implemented a policy to actively hire veterans relative to those with no evidence of a policy. 

When looking at these corporations’ industries, we found utility companies to be most represented across sectors that implement a veterans recruitment policy.

We’ve found, then, a correlation between companies that have implemented a policy to actively hire veterans with performance and profitability. Our findings do not necessarily represent causation, of course, but organizations like the Society for Human Resource Management have highlighted specific skills that veterans bring to the workforce, including a strong work ethic and dedication to their team. With proper initiatives in place, companies can take advantage of veterans’ training and adapt it to their own mission.

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