There has been “so much progress” with growing resources and programs to support military spouses, particularly when it comes to employment opportunities, said Patricia Barron, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy.

“Military spouses have very unique skills and are very, very employable. The challenge is that we move around so much that we just get started somewhere, and then we have to more or less start again,” Barron, an Army spouse and former Family Readiness director for the Association of the U.S. Army, said Oct. 14 during a warfighter and family forum focused on education and employment readiness at the association’s 2024 Annual Meeting and Exposition.

Given the unique demands of military life, just over one-fifth of active-duty spouses are unemployed, according to a Department of Defense news release.

The department is “trying to get creative” as it works to reduce spouse unemployment, including through an agreement between DoD and the State Department that allows eligible federally employed military spouses to work remotely, said Lt. Gen. Brian Eifler, deputy Army chief of staff for personnel, G-1.

“If you have a great job here … and then you get transferred overseas, there's a new pilot program in place that allows you to telework from, let's say, Europe, [while still being employed by the] domestic job back in the states,” he said.

Spouse employment is a retention issue, said Col. Jarrett Thomas, director of the Army’s Soldier for Life program.

“Soldiers will vote with their feet,” he said. “When you have difficult times for the spouse, eventually the spouse will say, ‘Look, we've got to do something different. I can't go from job to job, I’m having difficulty finding employment. It's hard to get into a field and not start over and over again.’ ”

—Karli Goldenberg