2 Nuts and Bolts vocational, or on-the- job training, case management, adjustment counseling, and job readiness and job placement. In FY 2013, about 136,000 veterans participated in the VR&E program. Both the VR&E and the VETS programs are taking steps to make the services that Veterans receive more job-driven. Deepening Relationships with Businesses to Hire Veterans. VETS is establishing a Job Development Unit that will collect employment commitments from national and regional employers seeking to hire veterans, including those federal contractors responsible for making efforts to meet hiring targets established under a recent set of regulations. The new Job Development Unit will connect these employers with Business Engagement Teams at American Job Centers and Local Veterans Employment Representatives specifically responsible for local business outreach on behalf of hiring veterans. Connecting the VA Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment to American Job Centers. The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program within VA will work with VETS in DOL to update the National Memorandum of Agreement to frame how Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors can leverage labor market and career information and employer relationships from state workforce investment boards to connect veterans with disabilities to in-demand training and employment opportunities. Each VA Regional Office will then update its local MOU with the appropriate Directors for Veterans’ Employment and Training in each state. The DOL/VA Joint Working Group will also update the joint Technical Assistance Guide, which describes the standard operating procedures for all partners, including VETS, VR&E, and each State Agency who work with veterans in the VR&E program, to reflect the job-driven training initiatives described above. Engaging Employers in Training for Refugee Resettlement and Job Placement The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) plans to engage employers more by increasing outreach through Regional Representatives and increasing support for Refugee State Coordinators and services providers. Through technical assistance ORR is able to match companies with prospective employees and provide support services that improve job retention rates. This is accomplished through partnerships with local resettlement agencies and ethnic-community organizations along with an in-depth knowledge of local labor market conditions and corporate staffing needs. Improve Information on Employment Results Central to the concept of job-driven training is whether training programs actually help participants find and keep good jobs. Program operators need this information in order to improve their programs and individuals need it to be able to make informed choices among programs. Requiring Employment Measures for All Training Programs In order to determine whether training programs actually help participants find and keep good jobs, programs need to track their participants’ outcomes using at least three core measures: how many participants find jobs, how many of them stay employed, and how much they earn in those jobs. Programs should make information on each of these outcomes readily available to participants and 43