Evening star., 1960-11-10
Job bProspects
Forveterans
He|dDwindIinq
BY DAVID BREASTED
Star stan Writer

BY DAVID BREASTED
Star star Writer
The 1960s promise to be q
decade of mixed blessings for
almost 20 per cent Of the Ma
tion's labor force-the World
War II notwithstanding to
Government forecasts.
On the one hand. the World
War II veterans. Is million
strong. will face the years ahead
with a better level Of educa-
tional attainment and a gen.
orally better employment rec
ord than the non-veteran.
Most of them are now. in the
prime working age group. 35-
A. These will be assets to
them in the shifting labor
market.
On the other hand, accord
ing to the Veterans Employ
ment Service, all but a few
World War II vets will pass
their 45th birthday by 1870
and become classified as odd
er workers" For about 4 mil
lion now over IS, their COM
parative edge in employment
figures over non-veterans over
Is already has disappeared.
The polite official term odd
er worker" usually will bear
a favorable meaning to the
veteran with job security.
But for the job hunter over
As. or even 40, the label will
be loaded mostly with trouble,
YES officials have predicted.
Tougher After 1865
The effects Of the age transi-
ton are only beginning to make
themselves felt. and will be-
come strongest after 1865. AS
Edward L. Omohundro. YES
director. pointed out, the great
majority of the 1l.2 million
World War II veterans under
As are now in the prime 35-44
age group. This group is the
major source of supervisory
and managerial personnel.
Department of Labor fore
casts indicate a slight numer-
ical decline in this age bracket
during the SOS. Mr.. Omohund-
70 said that until about 1856,
an appreciable number OF
World War II veterans will still
be in the prime age group in
terms of advancement to more
responsible positions. Chief
beneficiaries of any additional
labor demand in the age group,
however, will be as million
Korean war veterans whose
average age is now 81.
World War II veterans con-
sistently have shown lower un-
employment rates than non-
veterans below the age Of As,
according to Labor Department
figures. In mid-May of this
year, for instance, the rates
were 3 per cent for veterans,
compared with AZ per cent for
non-veterans, in the prime age
group.
However, in the 1854 age
category, veterans have exactly
the same unemployment rate
about as per cent-as non-vet-
Grams. The veterans compara-
tive advantage no longer holds.
a significant factor for the next
decade, said Mr.. Omohundro,
who oversees Veterans Employ
ment Service operations in
some 1900 State-local employ
ment offices.
81 in 1870
BY 1870, when the average
age of World War II veterans
is 81, they will virtually all be
on equal employment footing
with the on-veteran. In addi-
ton. two out of three of all %
million veterans will be over
As, statistics show.
Il don't believe in polishing
up the facts for a veteran over
IS who comes to see me about
a job," said Haywood Saunders,
YES representative for the
District.
UNLESS the veteran over 40
has outstanding qualifications
for a particular job, employers
are just not interested. If q
man is exceptionally qualified,
some employers are more lib
eral than others, but not al
ways" he said. indicating what
older veterans will find in
creasingly at hiring gates in
the SOS.
The first source Of compe-
tition, he said. will be from
more people in the older work.
er category itself. Many of
these will be women. of whom
two out Of five aged 1854 will
be in the labor market, the
labor department predicts. The
forecast is for SIS million more
workers in the older labor
market by 1870.
New Crop Of Workers
The second source of COM
petition, Mr.. Omohundro said,
will be from the millions of
younger workers, born during
the post World War II baby
boom. who will enter the labor
market in the. decade. These
will account for ga million of
the 1875 million net increase
expected in the labor force by
1870. To the aging veteran,
they will be important because
Of employer preference for the
younger man, Mr.. Omohundro
added.