Being a military spouse is not easy, but it gets even more difficult if that spouse wants to work to bring in a second paycheck and help improve their family’s quality of life, but can’t find a good paying job commensurate with his/her qualifications. And in many cases, it is not a case of “wants” to work so much as it is “has” to work, especially in the cases where the serving spouse is just starting their military career and not making much money.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Hiring Our Heroes program, military spouse unemployment hovers at 16% … or four times the national average. Spousal underemployment (working a job graded beneath his/her qualifications) is around 30%.
But help is just around the corner. On May 9, 2018, President Trump signed an executive order that directs federal agencies to make the non-competitive hiring authority provision for military spouses available in their job announcements. The non-competitive hiring authority makes it possible to appoint military spouses to certain jobs without them having to go through the typical competitive hiring process.
The new executive order also does three other things:
- Directs the White House Office of Personnel Management to educate federal agencies on the use of the hiring authority
- Increase the effectiveness of how and when it is used
- Increase awareness among military spouses as to the increase in federal employment opportunities.
Two days earlier, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced it is changing its Priority Placement for Spouses program, known as PPP-S. Once implemented, the change will allow military spouses hiring preference for DoD jobs after a permanent change of station (PCS) move. The change will bring the DoD in line with other hiring procedures and will empower spouses to use their military spouse preference to choose the job they want instead of grabbing the first one to come along. There used to be a two-year time cap in which military spouses had to use their preference within that amount of time after a PCS move or lose it. That cap is in part what led to the current military spouse underemployment issue stated earlier.
Last week at the 2018 Military Spouse Employment Summit, attended by hundreds of military spouses, government and private sector employers, Special Advisor to President Trump Kellyanne Conway said “If we are going to again make sure that our military and military families are properly resourced and respected, then part of that must include the employment opportunities to help those military spouses who wish to work.”
And in a statement by Dr. Jill Biden, wife of former Vice President Joe Biden, she said “Now it’s time to renew our commitment to solving another pressing problem. Military spouses now need our focus and we need to direct our energy … to their cause.”
The push to hire military spouses is not only in the public sector, but also aimed at the private sector too. At the Summit, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation rolled out its new initiative to work with private businesses to hire 100,000 spouses nationwide. Part of that initiative involves working with local governments and private businesses in areas with a high concentration of military spouses, at military bases, posts and other installations.
Only time will tell if executive orders and initiatives will bring down the military spouse unemployment crisis, but at least it is finally getting the attention it deserves.
