CRM company, Salesforce, has launched a program in Australia to provide veterans with training and employment opportunities in the technology sector.
Named the VetForce program, it is dedicated to making the transition from veteran to civilian smoother by delivering free, structured self-paced learning and training to people who have served in the Army, Navy and Airforce, as well as provide connections into the Salesforce ecosystem.
Salesforce will partner with not-for-profit, Soldier On, in its commitment to train 100 local veterans over the next 24 months in a scalable framework for structured self-paced learning.
The training is offered across a number of role types, equipping veterans for careers as Salesforce system analysts, business analysts, technical analysts and various other roles. The program has an ex-defense personnel, Mick Gawalski, going through it as a pilot to provide feedback and further tailor the program to best meet the needs of veterans.
The training and certification programs will run for four weeks, after which VetForce will provide mentorship and support to help veterans gain employment within the cloud community.
The VetForce program in Australia is modeled after the program in the US, which was launched in 2014, and addresses a critical need with about 5500 veterans leaving the military and transitioning back to civilian life in Australia in 2015.
Salesforce Asia-Pacific channels and partnerships and cloud marketing director, Gareth Baker, said the partnership allows Salesforce and Soldier On to work together to provide training and employment opportunities to help veterans reintegrate into the workforce and find career opportunities in the technology sector.
Baker, who will also be the local VetForce leader, added that the role of VetForce is to bridge an employment gap and connect veterans with career opportunities in the technology sector.
“Veterans have a great foundation of skills including teamwork, communication, critical-thinking and problem solving. Currently we have a situation where on the one hand, thousands of skilled veterans are ready to transition into the workforce each year, and on the other there is a fast growing industry that is experiencing a skills shortage.”
VetForce is seeking other technology companies in Australia to support the program through employment pledges, veteran coaching and mentoring as well as business and soft-skills training.
