Addressing the Military Spouse Unemployment Rate: National Security Starts at Home

by Courtney Power, NextFlex Deputy Director of Education & Workforce Development

With less than two months until my next military directed move, the feelings are starting to persist on the edges of all my thoughts. Anxiety – What if registration for piano or ice skating or soccer are already full? Excitement – what fun traditions or celebrations will we get to experience? We will be driving distance to family again! Fear – How long will it take me to find a house? To make friends? Grief — Is this the last time we’ll go to this restaurant, visit this store, see this person? Stress – What piece of furniture will get broken, damaged, or go missing this time?

In my twenty years of being connected to the military, either as an Active-Duty officer or now as a military spouse, the mixture of feelings that marks the time immediately before and after a PCS (permanent change of station) move is a constant. Luckily for me, I don’t have to stress about my employment prospects. In fact, in the four years I’ve been employed by NextFlex I’ve lived in three different states – Virginia, Wyoming, and New Mexico – with a move to Louisiana scheduled this summer. Unfortunately, I am the exception not the rule.

Military spouses face an unconscionable 21% unemployment rate¹. Why is meaningful, paid employment so important? For military families, national security starts at home and financial security plays a big role. Knowing that you can weather a car repair, out-of-pocket expenses incurred while moving cross country, or even just feel comfortable buying groceries results in peace of mind for the military family as well as the service member. According to recent studies by the Department of Defense, 25% of active-duty spouses struggle with food insecurity². Additionally, servicemembers consistently rank spouse employment as a top 5 concern related to military service and as a deciding factor in leaving the military as well³.

My own employment story as a military spouse is built solidly on transferable skills. I have degrees in chemistry and served on active duty as an aircraft maintenance officer and acquisition program manager. My resume shows that I transitioned to civilian “employment” as a primary caregiver and active volunteer; during those years I called myself a stay-at-home mom. Anyone who has worked as or observed a stay-at-home parent knows that they are honing valuable workplace skills on a daily basis. Conflict management, logistics and schedule deconfliction, networking, record keeping, customer service, and more.

As a military spouse, there is an added layer of adaptability, tenacity, and grit especially in the face of change. When I was ready to pursue paid employment, I was extremely fortunate that the hiring manager saw not a resume gap, but years of experience and myriad transferable skills that could be applied directly to the role I sought. Now, years past that breakthrough moment, I am doing my best to pay it forward, to give other military spouses the training and transferable skills that will open the door to a career in tech.

NextFlex, in partnership with Central New Mexico College and CNM Ingenuity, recently launched an initiative specifically aimed at boosting career opportunities for military spouses. Military Spouse Technical Training for Employment Mobility (Mil-STTEM) fully covers tuition costs and provides a stipend to military spouses enrolled in CNM Ingenuity’s Internet of Things (IoT), Quantum, or Data Science bootcamps – rigorous 10-week programs designed to equip participants with the skills they need to launch a career in tech. Participants are provided not just with hands-on education and training but also local resources and employer connections. The first military-spouse beneficiary graduated from the IoT Bootcamp and successfully secured a paid internship!

In the coming year, we will graduate more military spouses from CNM Ingenuity’s bootcamps but also seek additional community college partners, located near military installations and committed to this mission, to expand our efforts.

As I approach my tenth move in twenty years of being connected to the military, I am grateful the narrative is shifting to openly discuss the challenges military spouses face and that I am now in the position, through NextFlex, to offer solutions!

Interested in becoming a community college partner? Email us at workforceteam@nextflex.us.

Learn more about NextFlex Learning Programs and the work that we do.

This material is based on research sponsored by Air Force Research Laboratory under agreement number FA8650-20-2-5506, as conducted through the hybrid electronics manufacturing innovation institute, NextFlex. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon.

The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of Air Force Research Laboratory or the U.S. Government.