On Monday, President Obama issued an executive order to promote the federal government’s hiring of veterans. The executive order, Employment of Veterans in the Federal Government, creates an interagency Council on Veterans Employment – chaired by the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs – that will advise the President and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management on the veterans’ employment initiative (“Initiative”) created by the executive order, and serve as a national forum for promoting veterans’ employment opportunities in the executive branch. Under the Initiative, most federal agencies will be required to establish a Veterans Employment Program office that will be responsible for helping veterans find jobs within those agencies. In addition, these offices will be in charge of implementing veteran’s recruitment programs and training programs for veterans with disabilities, providing mandatory annual training to the agency’s human resources personnel and hiring managers, coordinating employment counseling to help match veterans’ career goals with the needs of the agency, and transitioning service members into the workforce, among other responsibilities.

According to a press release, the Initiative “underscores to federal agencies the importance of recruiting and training veterans, aims to increase the employment of veterans within the Executive Branch, and helps recently hired veterans adjust to service in a civilian capacity.”