JBLM on-base job center helps transitioning veterans find jobs during pandemic

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD - Millions lost their jobs due to COVID-19, and employment uncertainty is impacting service members as they transition out of the military.

“When COVID-19 hit, a lot of my plans got thrown a curve ball,” said Garfield Grant.

For eight years Sargent Garfield Grant served in the Army.

November 28th his contract ends.

For the last two years, he has been planning his transition out of the Army, but COVID-19 complicated things.

Grant says he considered extending his enlistment, but he was ready to be at home.

“I can’t believe I missed so much; I missed the first ultrasound. I missed a lot, man,” he said.

Grant’s wife was pregnant while he was gone on a more than 100-day rotation. Now, his daughter is 1, and Grant says he wants to be there for his family.

“There’s a lot of excitement right now because our customers are starting to see that,” said Sam Mitchell.

Mitchell is an administrator with WorkSource Joint Base Lewis-McChord, which is a service that is on-base offering job resources for transitioning veterans, their spouses, and their family members.

Following a slow period due to the pandemic, Mitchell says things are starting to pick back up at the on-base job center.

“Employers are looking for people now and hey, services are there and they are available to us,” said Mitchell. “So, we’re able to get them those critical job-ready services,” he added.

Grant says thanks to the job resources, he was able to find a full-time position doing software integration consulting reporting work.

“I stressed a lot about will I be able to feed my family. And I feel like I’m doing a pretty good job at it,” he said.

For more information on WorkSource JBLM click here.

For any employers, or transitioning vets looking to get involved click here.