Orion Talent and Siemens USA Celebrate 10 Years of Continuous Success in Hiring Military Veterans

Orion Talent, a provider of best-in-class military hiring and talent optimization solutions, proudly announced the 10-year anniversary of its Talent Program with Siemens USA to recruit, train, and retain skilled transitioning military service members and veterans.

Although the relationship between the two organizations dates back to the mid-1990s, the launch of Siemens’ formal Military Talent Program through Orion Talent began in June 2010 and has evolved into an award-winning collaboration to help transitioning U.S. military veterans thrive in the civilian workforce. The nationwide program standardizes and sustains the four key areas most critical to the success of military hiring efforts: targeted, proactive engagement of potential military candidates; comprehensive, engaging onboarding; talent upskilling; and engagement from day one. To date, the carefully crafted program has resulted in a continuous pipeline of high caliber military talent and a retention rate that far surpasses the market norm.

"It's a privilege to work with an organization such as Siemens that is so genuinely committed to understanding the uniqueness of a veteran's job search," said Mike Starich, CEO of Orion Talent. "While veterans remain a top tier target for most manufacturers, many employers lack an understanding of how veteran skills and backgrounds translate to the civilian workplace, and encounter difficulties throughout the hiring process. When a company is serious about hiring veterans, it needs the organizational support to build a dedicated military hiring program that puts veterans in positions in which they have an opportunity to flourish."

Since launching its military hiring program, Siemens has recruited nearly 4,000 service members from all four branches of the U.S. Military: Air Force, Navy, Army, and Marine Corps. With many positions requiring a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education or corresponding military background, veterans join Siemens in a range of roles – from corporate leadership to project management, manufacturing, running automation systems, and helping customers deploy next-generation power systems.

Siemens also offers a job training initiative to develop digital skills for veterans with engineering and manufacturing backgrounds as part of its broader effort to assist transitioning veterans. With demand far exceeding the supply of qualified technology talent, training veterans in STEM skills is critical to meet the needs of the private sector workforce as well as those of veterans returning to civilian life. Approximately 500 veterans have elected to use this resource since 2013.

"All companies have a responsibility to help veterans transition successfully into the civilian workforce and to live the American dream they bravely defended. But ultimately, the veterans we hire are helping us," said Siemens USA CEO Barbara Humpton. "Our partnership with Orion Talent has helped us to take a proactive approach to hiring men and women who have strong technical training and natural leadership qualities that add tremendous value to our business."

For its efforts to hire military veterans, Siemens received the Gold HIRE Vets Medallion Award in 2019 from the United States Department of Labor and was named to the U.S. Veterans Magazine Best of the Best list in 2019. Siemens has committed to hire an additional 300 veterans annually over the next several years.