Siemens PLM Software Launches Free Job Training for Veterans

Siemens PLM Software is offering CAD, CAM, and CAE training—courses that usually cost as much as $17,000—to recently returning veterans for free.

In an announcement today, the company outlines the program: “Ten, multi-day courses are offered, including comprehensive training on NX software, Siemens PLM Software’s leading integrated solution for CAD/CAM/CAE, and Teamcenter software, the world’s most widely used digital lifecycle management solution. The training will help enhance veterans’ qualifications for skilled positions in a wide variety of manufacturing industries around the world, including automotive, aerospace, energy, high-tech electronics, and machinery.”

Chuck Grindstaff, CEO and president of Siemens PLM Software, can understand how difficult the military-to-civilian transition could be. His father is a veteran of the Korean war. “Just thinking about what he went through when he came back, [this program] just makes sense to me,” said Grindstaff. So when some employees suggested the idea, Grindstaff and the executive team signed off on it.

In April 2011, in participation of the White House’s Joining Forces initiative to support and honor America’s service members and their families, Siemens pledged to reserve 10% of its 3,000 open positions for veterans. The company revealed it has hired more than 1,000 veterans in the last two years.

“There’s a constant requirement for well-trained, skilled workers among our customers,” observed Grindstaff. “They all often complain that they can’t get the right people in. So we thought it might be a perfect match. It’s something we can do for the community, for our customers, as well as the returning veterans.”

Siemens is partnering with Still Serving Veterans, an organization that helps veterans and their families reintegrate into the workforce and community, as the designated contact for enrollment in the job training initiative. (To apply, visit this link.) The courses will be offered at 22 Siemens PLM Software training facilities throughout the U.S.