Written by: Kayla Reed-Fitzke, PhD, LMFT and Abby Keeler, BS
Imagine a workforce of highly educated, resilient, and adaptable professionals—yet this group faces a 21% unemployment rate, despite nearly half holding advanced degrees (Office of People Analytics, 2023). These are military spouses, a skilled and often overlooked talent pool hiding in plain sight. In stark contrast, 76% of human resource professionals have found it difficult to fill open positions (SHRM, 2024). This gap highlights the need for companies and organizations, both large and small, to tailor or create employment opportunities for military spouses—opportunities they are sure to excel at.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently conducted ground-breaking research and published a report of their findings geared towards reducing that gap and helping employers realize the potential that military spouses hold.
SHRM Report Highlights: Part I
We recommend reading the full report, but if you’re looking for a quick summary, we’ll be sharing the key highlights across a series of blog posts. In this first blog, we talk about the “why” within the report, specifically why it is important for employers to be thinking strategically about hiring military spouses. In our next blog, we’ll explore the “how”—practical steps organizations can take to support the employment of military spouses.
What Employers Need to Know
In describing the business case for hiring military spouses, emphasizing how they contribute to a thriving economic and geopolitical environment, the report highlights several ways in which military spouses are skilled and dedicated employees.
- Military spouses attain higher levels of education than the national average of their civilian counterparts.
- Military spouses have a unique set of skills—they learn from navigating barriers such as relocation, credentialing issues, and employer bias.
- Military spouses often live away from family, making them exceptional at building a sense of community, fostering a collaborative work environment.
- Military spouses are culturally aware and often have unique experiences or perspectives they can bring to the table.
- Military spouses are inherent problem-solvers and have many other valuable soft skills that are essential in a workplace environment.
- Military families take what life throws at them—they are dependable, adaptable, and flexible.
Military spouses often wish to contribute to their family’s financial well-being, recognizing that their partner’s skilled military service relies on family support. Employers looking to close talent gaps should consider the valuable skills military spouses bring to the workforce.
Hiring Military Spouses Requires Intentional Strategies
Hiring military spouses starts with intentionality. The SHRM report indicates nearly 4 in 5 human resource professionals agreed that hiring military spouses is appealing to their organization. Unfortunately, the results speak for themselves—only 1 in 10 agreed their organization succeeds in hiring from the military spouse talent pool (SHRM, 2024). So, what can be done to help turn the desire of organizations to hire military spouses into action? The solution SHRM provides is simple: organizations must have a formal program for hiring military spouses.
Organizations with formal and informal recruitment programs were 2 to 3 times more likely to have employed and report being effective at hiring military spouses. There are many strategies to help recruit and hire military spouses. For example, customizing flexible job opportunities specifically for military spouses will encourage them in their unique circumstances to feel welcomed in an organization. This flexibility can also include making adjustments such as offering remote onboarding processes.
Consider partnering with established programs like MilitaryOneSource and the Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP) to reach and support military spouses and connect them to military-friendly employers. Recognizing the unique challenges military spouses face and developing solutions they can actively benefit from is essential. By doing so, you can help military spouses realize their full professional potential and support the nation in impactful, often overlooked ways. Supporting small changes can lead to great change in our nation as a whole.
References
Society for Human Resource Management/SHRM. (2024). Insight to action: Leveraging the potential of military spouse talent. https://shrm-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/v1719327509/Foundation/CPR-240843_Research_Insight_to_Action_Leveraging_the_Potential_of_Military_Spouse_Talent_R5-DIGITAL.pdf
Office of People Analytics. Defense Personnel Analytics Center. (2023). 2021 Active-Duty Spouse Survey. (Report No. 2023-045). https://dpac.defense.gov/Portals/131/Documents/ActiveDutySpouseOverviewBriefing-Final-508.pdf
Photo Credit: adragan / Adobe Stock
