When it comes to earning jewels for your crown in heaven, I'm pretty sure you Top Spouse Employers are going to be staggering under the heavy crown you already bear. You deserve to be recognized as one of Military.com's 2024 Top Spouse Employers this May.
As Military.com's transition master coach, I'm a huge fan of our 2024 Top Veteran Employers; they do so much for our transitioning military. As a military spouse myself with 20 permanent change-of-station, or PCS, moves behind me, I treasure even more the employers that have developed a program to recruit, train and retain military spouses.
Because it is harder. Spouses are (usually) not veterans. Captain Obvious to the rescue here, I know. The way I see it, employers hire veterans for what they know, what they can do and who they can talk to because of their military experience.
Spouses do not have that common work experience. I've never met two who were professionally alike.
Spouses also are subject to something veterans do not experience after they leave the military: Spouses keep moving. On average, a military spouse moves with their service member every 2.5 years. According to research from the National Military Family Association, nearly half of military families report they have trouble finding child care after a move. All those moves add up and contribute to employment problems veteran spouses continue to face, even after their service member leaves the military.
That is why the research points to the PCS move as the No. 1 factor contributing to the stubborn 21% unemployment rate among military spouses. The move is also behind the fact that one in five military families say challenges with spousal employment are a prime reason they consider when deciding whether to leave active-duty service.
The role of Top Spouse Employers is essential to our national ability to retain military families and support and defend the nation. They should be recognized.
For the first time in our history, Military.com will be selecting and recognizing our Top Spouse Employers this year. We will follow the recommendations of Joining Forces and Blue Star Families 4+1 Commitment for Employers. To identify and evaluate top spouse employers, we will look at their initiatives surrounding:
- Hiring and promoting military spouses
- Enabling job transferability
- Offering remote or telework
- Offering flexible work hours
- Providing paid or permissive PCS leave
- Membership in an existing spouse employment program (like Hiring Our Heroes; American Corporate Partners, or ACP, Spouse; the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, or MSEP, etc.)
How to Apply
At Military.com, we want to shine a spotlight on these top military spouse employers. If you think your company is truly a leader, we want to hear about it. Take our survey today and help a military spouse find their next high-impact job tomorrow. Or nominate your company by emailing us at veteranemploymentproject@monster.com.
Jacey Eckhart is Military.com's transition master coach. She is a certified professional career coach and military sociologist who helps military members get their first civilian job by offering career-level Master Classes through our Veteran Employment Project and on her website, SeniorMilitaryTransition.com. Reach her at Jacey.Eckhart@Monster.com.
Find Your Next Job Fast
Transitioning military, veterans and spouses may be qualified for the job, but they are missing the secrets of civilian hiring. Find out everything you need to know with our FREE master class series, including our next class. You can view previous classes in our video library. Questions for Jacey? Visit our Facebook page.
