Army ups top bonuses for recruits to $50K amid COVID-19 related staffing shortages
CBSN
The U.S. Army is for the first time offering a maximum enlistment bonus of $50,000 to highly skilled recruits who join for six years, The Associated Press has learned, as the service struggles to lure soldiers into certain critical jobs amid the continuing pandemic.
Major General Kevin Vereen, head of Army Recruiting Command, told AP that shuttered schools and the competitive job market over the past year have posed significant challenges for recruiters. So heading into the most difficult months of the year for recruiting, the Army is hoping that some extra cash and a few other changes will entice qualified young people to sign up.
"We are still living the implications of 2020 and the onset of COVID, when the school systems basically shut down," said Vereen. "We lost a full class of young men and women that we didn't have contact with, face-to-face."
