Veteran Employees in Health Systems More Likely To Stay, Get Promoted

Veterans who enter the healthcare workforce have a 29% higher chance at promotion and have a 14% higher retention rate than non-veteran workers, according to new data from Guild, a career development platform. Data is based on a recent analysis of more than 15,000 veteran and military learners across Guild’s employer partners.

Business administration is the area most veterans are concentrated in, at 17%. This is followed by information technology (15%), corporate business functions (15%) and healthcare (12%).

“Veterans are trained to assess situations, make decisions with incomplete information, and keep teams moving forward,” Cory Boatwright, senior advisor at Hiring Our Heroes, said in a recent Guild article. “When employers don’t recognize or invest in those abilities, they miss the chance to build teams rooted in trust and shared purpose.”

Hiring Our Heroes is an employment recruitment agency designed specifically for veterans. The organization works closely with employers to identify skill alignments between military experience and civilian roles—an effort that has become increasingly valuable as health systems and other employers seek to address critical workforce shortages.

The upward trend of promotion and retention for veterans is a positive sign, considering the current shortage of healthcare workers in the United States. A National Center for Health Workforce Analysis predicts that by 2037, almost all physician specialties will experience shortages, with nonmetro areas hit the hardest. For example, nonmetro areas will experience a 60% physician shortage, while metro areas will experience only a 10% shortage.

Shortages are also ongoing for other healthcare careers, such as in nursing, which has a deficit of 295,800 roles, as well as medical and lab technologists, which have an estimated deficit of 98,700 positions.

One of the biggest contributors to shortages is burnout, which is reported by 49% of providers.

Veterans may also be used to working in high pressure environments, which could make them more resilient against burnout. However, veterans take much longer to reach director or vice president roles, according to one LinkedIn report. Nonveterans reach their first director role at around year 9 of employment, while veterans aren’t promoted for 17 years. Years to reach a vice president role were similar: 11 years for nonveterans and 19 for veterans.

Healthcare roles that are currently in high demand include healthcare IT specialists, medical coders, and positions in claims and billing and regulatory and compliance, according to a recent report from Hiring Our Heroes.

As healthcare systems brace for future shortages, initiatives like Guild’s veteran learning programs and Hiring Our Heroes’ placement efforts could serve as a model for building sustainable, mission-driven workforces across industries.