Comcast and NBCUniversal have hired 1,000 veterans over the past year and expect to hire 1,000 more veterans over the next two years as part of “Hiring Our Heroes,” an initiative by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. This puts the company two years ahead in their three-year goal. By 2015, Comcast and NBCUniversal anticipate doubling their pledge by hiring 1,000 more veterans.
The Hiring Our Heroes initiative was launched in March 2011 in a nationwide endeavor to help veterans and military spouses transition into meaningful careers. Comcast and NBCUniversal play an important role in this effort and have hired veterans to work in a variety of positions in the company, including network engineering, technology, operations, theme parks and resorts, programming, customer service, marketing, human resources and more.
Comcast and NBCUniversal’s pledge is a large contribution to the Chamber’s Hiring 500,000 Heroes campaign, a private sector commitment aiming to hire half a million veterans and military spouses by the end of 2014. Currently, businesses have hired 93,000 veterans and military spouses out of the 210,000 pledged.
William Strahan, Executive Vice President of Human Resources for Comcast Cable, expressed excitement in reaching these goals early: “Comcast and NBC Universal are thrilled to have reached our original hiring commitment early. We have had the privilege of hiring extremely talented men and women…we look forward to making our workforce even stronger with our next wave of veterans joining our team. “
The culture at Comcast and NBCUniversal is supportive towards veterans and reservists within its ranks. The company provides employee resource groups for the veteran community, including mentoring programs and events focused on career development. Comcast is also offering to assist veterans in their careers at other employers through one of their programming resources, “Hire a Veteran,” found On Demand on Xfinity TV.
With support from Comcast and NBCUniversal, Hiring Our Heroes will host job fairs in communities across America March 15-28. Through local partnerships with veteran serving organizations, Comcast provides various support to the veteran community.
Executive Director of Hiring Our Heroes, Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Schmiegel, considers Comcast and NBCUniversal “among the biggest supporters of our program.” In addition, he acknowledged that their dedication and leadership is making a difference in “how businesses across America are recognizing the value in hiring a veteran."
