N.J. company ranks among 30 best companies for veterans

Some companies excel at drafting policies related to veterans, reservists and their families, as well as making an effort to hire them. And at least one is in New Jersey.Newark-based Prudential Financial ranked within the top 30 of companies with good veteran hiring practices in a 2014 survey done by Military Times. Around 200 of its 3,200 hires last year were veterans. The company reportedly allocates 15 percent of its recruiting budget to veterans.  It came in at No. 24 on the list.

On that list, Texas-based USAA Insurance came in at the highest slot. The insurance company reported 30 percent of its recruiting budget targets veterans.

Verizon, a New York company with a strong Garden State presence, appeared at No. 2, revealing that it employs 11,231 veterans of its workforce of 166,303. Verizon also ranked as one of CivilianJobs.com’s Most Valuable Employers this year for excellence in military recruiting and hiring practices.

CACI International Inc., an IT company in Virginia, rounded out the top three.

On Military Times’ ranking, Walmart came in at No. 23 despite employing the most veterans at approximately 100,000. But, just for context, the major retailer employs around 2.2 million.

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The second-largest veteran hirer on the list (36,500), The Home Depot, came in at No. 45 based on veterans’ survey results.

Further up, at No. 29, was Exelis Inc., a global aerospace, defense, information and services company that has a division based out of Clifton.

It should be mentioned that the New York-based integrated space communications system designer and producer L-3 Communications, and Maryland-based global security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin (which both have sizable New Jersey presences) were in the top five on Forbes’ veteran-friendly company rankings, but were not named by Best for Vets.

Best for Vets does a number of rankings, including of colleges. It’s an editorially independent news project that evaluates factors that make an organization a good fit for service members, military veterans and their families. Its methodology involves a 90-question survey.

According to the survey, here are the best 30 companies for veterans:

1. USAA Insurance
2. Verizon Communications Inc.                
3. CACI International Inc.
4. BAE Systems Inc.         
5. Union Pacific
6. Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.       
7. Capital One Financial
8. JPMorgan Chase & Co.
9. Intuitive Research and Technology Corp.
10. Humana Inc.
11. Concurrent Technologies Corp.
12. AT&T              
13. Southern Co.
14. Bank of America
15. URS Federal Services
16. ManTech International          
17. Intel
18. LMI   Consulting
19. CDW
20. Safeway Inc.
21. Exelon Corp.
22. Accenture    
23. Walmart
24. Prudential Financial Inc.
25. U.S. Bank
26. Xcel Energy
27. DaVita Inc
28. Exelis Inc.
29. Wells Fargo
30. CSC

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