We’re Hiring America’s Veterans!

#AmtrakVets

Today we’re excited to announce that we’re making a corporate commitment to ensure 25 percent of our new hires are veterans by 2015!

“I’m honored and proud to add more of our country’s service men and women to the Amtrak team,” says Amtrak president and CEO Joe Boardman, who is a Vietnam veteran.

That means that over the next year we expect to hire more than 3,000 employees, 25 percent of which will be vets! In fact, in fiscal year 2012, more than 14 percent of new hires were veterans.

Amtrak’s new hiring initiative was announced today at a special ceremony at Washington Union Station, just steps from the nation’s capitol. You can see live social media coverage of the event by using the hashtag #AmtrakVets.

The event included Sen. Joe Manchin, Rep. Jeff Denham, Michael L. Rhodes with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Amtrak employees and an extra special guesta custom-painted locomotive.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War and to honor those that have served in all modern conflicts, we unveiled a specially designedAmerica’s Railroad Salutes Our Veterans” locomotive, which will travel around the country.

“Veterans bring a unique skill set to the job and are a great fit for our positions,” says Amtrak Chief of Human Capital Barry Melnkovic. “Amtrak, America’s Railroad, is in service to American veterans.”

So how do we plan on hitting that goal? We’re working with a great group of partners, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring our Heroes, the Wounded Warrior Project, RecruitMilitary and Army PaYS. We’re also participating in more than 30 job fairs this year!

If you’re interested in learning more about careers at Amtrak and how skills from the armed forces transfer to the railroad, go to Amtrak.com/VeteransCareers!