In celebration of Veterans Day 2014, Tom Perez, secretary of Labor,  presents  Working for Our Veterans Every Day.  He delivers the good news that "We’ll need upwards of 100,000 more computer support specialists in the coming years. 30,000 more surgical techs. These are the jobs of today and tomorrow — they pay middle-class wages and they don’t require advanced degrees. And their military experience uniquely equips veterans to thrive in these jobs."  He also states that  "We recently completed a four-year, $2 billion investment in community colleges, to help them better serve veterans and other adult learners."

We spend a lot of time at the Labor Department talking to employers about the traits that veterans can bring to help a company succeed here in the U.S. I certainly don’t need convincing that veterans are indispensable members of any team. I see it every day here at the Department of Labor, where 33 percent of the new employees we hired last fiscal year are veterans.

The economic outlook in our country has improved in meaningful and measurable ways of late, and the news is encouraging for veterans and their families. October was the 56th straight month of private-sector job growth, to the tune of 10.6 million new jobs. For veterans, the unemployment rate is now at 4.5 percent, down from 6.9 percent a year ago. With the overall unemployment at 5.8 percent, that points to the idea that more employers are getting the message that hiring veterans is good for business.

Yesterday, at our annual event recognizing the contributions of veterans to our economy, we held a discussion on women veterans in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers. One of the most important steps in the stairway to shared prosperity is empowering people with the skills they need to succeed in jobs that employers want to fill right now.

About a quarter of the companies on Fortune Magazine’s list of 100 fastest growing companies are in the energy sector. That means a treasure trove of energy-related jobs; the utilities are in the process of dramatically expanding and modernizing the grid, which will require workers who can earn at least $50,000 a year to start. We can’t expand broadband access without middle-class workers either.

We’ll need upwards of 100,000 more computer support specialists in the coming years. 30,000 more surgical techs. These are the jobs of today and tomorrow — they pay middle-class wages and they don’t require advanced degrees. And their military experience uniquely equips veterans to thrive in these jobs.

Also, our skills and training infrastructure is undergoing a dramatic transformation, with the rise of apprenticeships and other innovations. We are building a modernized, refurbished skills superhighway enabling workers to get good jobs and businesses to find good workers. We have to work with all due urgency to ensure that we are helping to connect veterans to the programs that will help them launch their own journeys down that superhighway. We recently completed a four-year, $2 billion investment in community colleges, to help them better serve veterans and other adult learners.

Adding women veterans into the mix, we encounter a number of other challenges and opportunities. Women – veterans and non-veterans alike – continue to be underrepresented in these critical areas of the economy. The majority of opportunities for STEM mentorship or awareness programs are for high-schoolers or younger girls, not for women veterans. Another tricky problem that we’ve encountered in the field is that women veterans don’t always identify themselves as such when taking advantage of services at American Job Centers.

That’s something we need to work hard to change, to make sure that these veterans are getting the message to “Stand Up, Speak Up, and Claim Their Veteran Status Proudly.”

Women in STEM fields make, on average, 33 percent more than women in non-STEM fields, and the gender pay gap is smaller in those occupations. That alone provides an imperative for us to help women veterans connect with the opportunities for training in these fields.

While 63 percent of the women veteran population is in the civilian labor force, compared to 58 percent of women non-veterans, there are still too many women on the bench. We need them in the game, as full participants in this economy – because America is strongest when it fields a full team.

Our debt to our veterans extends far beyond the tributes and celebrations of their heroism on one day every year. Every day, we must support their successful transition into the civilian workforce through effective, targeted policies and programs that serve them as dutifully as they have served us. I trust that our team here at the Labor Department feels that in their core, and I pledge today that we will remain relentless in the pursuit of opportunity for our veterans.

Follow Secretary Perez on Twitter, @LaborSec.