Our Responsibility To Our Veterans
Stephen A. Schwarzman
Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder of Blackstone, New York Times Bestselling Author of What It Takes, Philanthropist
It is our duty and honor to support American veterans and their families. These motivated men and women deserve our respect and gratitude; we must always recognize their commitment and sacrifice.
My time in the army taught me the importance of public service. During my time, I met people from all across the country who came from different backgrounds and points of view. But we were all there for something greater than ourselves. This created a strong sense of community and responsibility that united us all.
It’s that shared responsibility of one person to another – for another – that is so critical for any organization, company or country’s success.
Hiring veterans is good for business because it is the right thing to do.
Not only is it moral to support the service men and women who are responsible for securing our freedom, but it also makes business sense.
Great companies start with great people.
Veterans are trained to execute and deal with uncertainty. Many of them receive specialized training in a variety of areas that are uniquely beneficial for the businesses that hire them.
Back in 2013, I attended a dinner of the Business Roundtable where First Lady Michelle Obama spoke about the unique support needs of U.S. service members, veterans, and their families.
She highlighted the obstacles that military veterans and their families face that result in high levels of unemployment and also mentioned the severe consequences. She asked every company in attendance to participate in her national initiative to reduce veterans’ unemployment.
As I made my way home that night, I dictated a note to the First Lady committing Blackstone and its portfolio companies to hiring 50,000 veterans and their families over the next five years.
We hit our goal a year early and have since pledged to hire another 50,000 veterans by 2022. To date, we have hired more than 80,000 veterans and veteran spouses at current and former portfolio companies through the Blackstone Veterans Initiative.
We know our efforts combined with the work of so many other companies have helped raise awareness around the benefits of hiring veterans. This is about more than just a fulfilling a pledge, it’s about our core values as a company and shared our responsibility to each other as Americans.
Global Investment Partner, Federated Hermes GPE
4 年Nick B. Tran
Teacher, Certified Leadership Coach, Speaker & Trainer.
5 年Most of you are missing the point, Veterans and active-duty soldiers alike, are inherently anti-war, and for the most part, not all that keen on being sent overseas to intervene in the affairs of other countries, however, the military takes orders from the politicians who represent the wishes of the people, therefore, if you have a problem with the military and what we do with it, then you have a problem with YOUR politicians who decide where we go and what we do.? When I was sent into the war zone and asked to complete a mission I did my duty.? I made a commitment to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic as identified by those elected officials in charge of deciding who those enemies were.? During my time it was Saddam Hussien, who it will be in the future we cannot know but we must be prepared for whomever it is and that involves a commitment few people are willing to make.? So, while I ask nothing of the public in return for my service, I would ask that those who have issues with where we are in the world and what we are doing there point their hate in the direction of those who decide on those things and leave us Veterans to our lives after the military.??