Citi Shows Support to Veterans on Staff After Attacks in Kabul

(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. offered a show of support to veterans on its workforce in the aftermath of Thursday’s explosions outside Kabul’s international airport that marked the deadliest day for the U.S. military in years. 

The firm over the past two weeks has been encouraging veterans to reach out to each other, said Ed Skyler, the bank’s head of global public affairs who co-leads an affinity group within Citigroup that supports veterans alongside former U.S. Navy aviator Michael Steinbach. Skyler posted on LinkedIn just hours after explosions outside the Kabul airport killed 12 U.S. service members and an additional 15 U.S. service members were wounded.

“We know that those who served in Afghanistan or supported other operations in the days, weeks and years after 9/11 may be feeling a range of emotions,” Skyler said in the post. “We are thinking about our veterans community here at Citi during this time, and we are here to support them.”

The biggest U.S. banks have made concerted attempts to ramp up hiring of veterans in recent years. Citigroup has said it was one of the first U.S. banks to create an affinity group for former military personnel, a group that has swelled to at least 2,300 employees.

Banks and other U.S. corporations have been increasingly willing to take public stances on political and societal issues, including racial equality, gun violence and hate crimes, in recent years.

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