How Salesforce is reskilling veterans to work in the tech industry

Military veterans make up approximately 6% of the U.S. workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but they are vastly underutilized. With the right training they could be the key to keeping industries staffed and thriving — including the tech sector. 

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, as of April 2023 the veteran unemployment rate was 2.2%, down from 3.0% the prior year. Yet, finding employment after their military service still affects nearly 200,000 veterans every year, according to the Pew Research Center, and only one in four U.S. veterans have a job lined up after leaving the armed forces. Software company Salesforce wanted to find a way to turn the disparity into opportunity. 

"We know that talent is spread evenly, but opportunity isn't," says Mike Nolan, senior manager of military recruiting at Salesforce. "Veterans and military spouses are historically underrepresented in the workplace, yet they often hold transferable skills that are needed for successful careers in tech." 

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Three years ago, Salesforce began partnering with the Hiring Our Heroes' SkillBridge Program, which helps match veterans to companies with open positions, simply as a sponsor. This year, however, the software company began hosting SkillBridge Fellows internally at no cost to the individual, and became one of the first companies to participate in the Military Spouse Accelerator program, which gives the same workplace opportunities to military members' spouses struggling to find jobs, too. Both programs offer the classes, certifications, and support the veterans and their partners need for successful careers as they transition out of their service.

The 12-week program includes on-the-job training where the fellows will learn tech hard skills such as coding, project management and sales, as well as soft skills such as networking, leadership and critical thinking. After they earn their certifications, they can apply for jobs within the company, or apply elsewhere at other tech institutions if they wish. Over the last few months, the tech industry has been bouncing back from increased layoffs in the first half of the year that affected companies nationwide, thus the chance to create more pathways for underrepresented demographics to fill vacancies and diversify ranks. 

"For us, this is about opening doors for individuals who may not have these opportunities otherwise," Nolan says. "But it was also about bringing unique knowledge and experience to our organization and ecosystem. It's a win-win." 

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A lack of transferable skills is often veterans' top concern when it comes to finding their place in the workforce, according to a blog post from job insights platform Monster. But even without programs like Salesforce's, veterans learn and offer their own unique set of skills — stress management, problem-solving, loyalty and ethics — that make them a valuable part of any team. Salesforce aims to also hone in on those qualities and expand on them to make veterans suited for roles and positions that go beyond the technology sector, like sales and HR. 

Currently, Salesforce has already hosted nearly two dozen fellows in their SkillBridge and Military Spouse Accelerator Programs, and plans to host nearly 50 Fellows across all of their business units in 2023.

"These Fellows can work hands-on with all of our teams, like sales, data analysis, engineering, and more," Nolan says. "Our goal is to help each fellow become uniquely positioned to be a top candidate for any role within the industry."