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Three Of Forbes’ Best Employers For Veterans Are Based In Plano

Of the 200 companies listed in the report, 18 are from Texas
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Photo: Africa Studio | Shutterstock

On November 9, the business magazine Forbes in partnership with the research company Statista published a list of the best companies for veterans and Plano, Texas made three appearances on the list. 

According to the report, veteran status has been appreciated by employers differently over time. After WWII, those who came back were regarded as heroes and being a retired military member opened doors. Charles Leo, a professor at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management told Workforce in 2012, “If there was a choice to make, the veteran would be the one who was hired.”

In the 1960’s the controversy surrounding the Vietnam war changed the attitudes toward veterans. “They returned to an inhospitable environment that influenced attitudes about employment and work. There was a stigma attached to veterans,” Leo continued.

But since the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, this perception of the troops has changed once more and things seem to be looking up. As reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the past decade, we’ve seen a pronounced decline in unemployment rates among veterans, going from 8.6% in 2010 to 2.7% in October 2022, 1.4% less than the year before.

To create the ranking, Statista surveyed over 7,000 U.S. veterans working in America-based companies with more than 1,000 employees. At the top of the ranking is NASA, based in Washington, District of Columbia, a government agency that prides itself on having veterans not only in the astronaut corps but all across the agency. 

Texas alone is the home of 18 of the companies in the ranking. Take a look at the three Plano-based companies that made it to the list:

  • No. 77 Toyota North America – Plano
  • No. 101 NTT Data – Plano
  • No. 132 Anderson Merchandisers – Plano

“Today, companies want to hire veterans. Not only is there regulatory benefit given government initiatives like tax breaks and salary subsidies, but veterans are also seen as an exceptional class of people,” told Jim Craig, a professor of Sociology at the University of Missouri–St. Louis and a former lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army to Forbes.

And with more choices come, well, choices. Today, veterans are able to choose companies that offer veteran career development, recruitment and leadership opportunities and now we have the top 200 American companies that are doing just that.


Don't miss the opportunity of celebrating our national heroes this Veterans Day in Collin County.