Bank of America to hire vets

Bank of America's implementation of Project New BAC is still going on, causing lots of pain as the bank works through Phase II, which is aiming for cuts in the wealth management and investment banking units.

These cuts will not be as dire as the initial phase, which contemplated job reductions in the neighborhood of 30,000 over time. In fact, there are some pockets of hiring going on. And Bank of America plans to double military-veteran hires to 1,000 this year, with positions to be filled in IT and operations, military assistance, consumer banking and wealth management, according to FINS.

The bank counts 6,000 veterans, reservists and active-duty service members among its 282,000 employees. Veterans are a particularly good fit in technology and operations, the bank's senior vice president in charge of the bank's military business told the publication, as the "the skills needed for those positions align with the field training that many in the military receiver."

The bank will be hiring in customer service for military support as well.

"We want veterans who know how to speak to their fellow service members, know the legislation and understand the payment allowance systems from the Department of Defense," the executive was quoted.

All in all, this is a good move, especially from  PR point of view. It's hard to argue with efforts to employ veterans, especially given the recent settlements involving top banks alleged abusive practices committed against military personnel. JP Morgan Chase, for example, settled a class-action lawsuit over such issues recently for $27 million. Other banks may well follow suit with hiring programs of their own.

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