By Maria Donnelly, Emmalee Gruesen, and Jen Goodale

Addressing military spouse employment may be the most bipartisan issue in Washington: President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both championed it as a way to improve military readiness and retention; the first lady frequently identifies it as a national security concern; and previous administrations and Congress have raised the issue regularly for decades, passing and amending laws aimed at fixing something everyone agrees is badly broken.

So when the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the first-of-its-kind Government-wide Military-Connected Strategic Plan designed to “tackle employment barriers and expand opportunities for military-connected spouses, caregivers, and survivors,” one might assume it would include some meaningful, actionable methods for the federal government to use its power as an employer to increase military spouse hires. After all, existing federal authorities – including the non-competitive hiring authority for military spouses, which has been in place since 2008, and DoD’s Military Spouse Preference program – can significantly reduce the 20-plus-percent military spouse unemployment rate, if used correctly and regularly.

[RELATED: Ask Your Lawmakers to Support the READINESS Act]

Instead, the report simply “encourages” the government to do … something … about this long-term problem – a government-created issue which requires a government fix.

The challenges of finding and maintaining employment can and should be alleviated by federal policies. Yet reports from OPM from FY 2010-2021 show of an annual average of nearly 221,000 new hires, only 1,500 are military spouses. Considering there are an estimated 140,000 unemployed active-duty military spouses seeking jobs, it’s time to stop encouraging and start demanding federal agencies use the tools at their disposal.

Disappointing Data Collection

The strategic plan also attempts to address a lack of data on this issue, but it is insufficient there as well, relying on changes to the voluntary Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) to improve data capture. Since President Trump signed Executive Order 13832, agencies have been required to report annually to OPM and the Department of Labor the number of:

• Positions made available under the military spouse hiring authority.
• Applications submitted under the military spouse hiring authority.
• Military spouses appointed under the military spouse hiring authority.

The most recent report, which included just one of the above data points, is illustrative of how military spouses are often treated … an afterthought within a document focused on veterans. The inclusion of currently serving spouses within OPM’s FedsHireVets website is indicative of the same sentiment. Language describing hiring authorities and priority placement programs for military spouses must be clear, concise, and accessible, not hidden within the veteran hiring section.

The Way Forward

It is time to require federal agencies to actively recruit military-connected families and retain those individuals throughout military-mandated moves. When existing policies are not followed, military families should have a clear chain of command for redress.

MOAA urges Congress to implement effective, enforceable policies to enhance employment opportunities for military-connected families. Simple things like a written policy granting a minimum of five days of leave for a PCS move should be a requirement, not a suggestion. And federally employed military spouses should have the opportunity to telework, or go into leave-without-pay status, when their servicemember receives orders.

Several proposals before Congress, including the bipartisan READINESS Act (H.R. 6462/S. 3530), would give direction and require the flexibilities which OPM “encourages.” Ask your lawmakers to provide meaningful support for this underemployed and underappreciated segment of the uniformed services community.

Maria Donnelly is an active-duty Army spouse currently residing in North Carolina and a member of MOAA’s Currently Serving Spouse Advisory Council. She has worked at think tanks and for DoD. Emmalee Gruesen is a Navy civilian employee and active duty Navy spouse currently stationed in Charlottesville, Va., where she is completing a master’s degree in data analytics. Maria and Emmalee have drafted multiple proposals before Congress concerning military spouse employment, including the READINESS Act. Goodale is MOAA’s director of Government Relations for Military Family and Survivor Policy.