Military Spouses

Seven in 10 military spouses report they had taken jobs that were “uninteresting, low paying, or below their skill level,” in a study released by Burning Glass Technologies (now Lightcast) and Hiring Our Heroes with support from Grow with Google and Google.org. Approximately one-third of military spouses whose partner had already retired or left the service indicated that supporting their spouses’ career was a major factor in the decision.

But there are solutions. A number of occupations can be good opportunities for military spouses. These include careers in Business Management and Operations, Human Resources, and Marketing and Public Relations, according to Lightcast job data analysis.

Entitled Examining Entrepreneurship, Remote Work, and Upskilling as Drivers of Economic Success for Military Spouses, the research project utilized a survey of 1,522 military spouses, in-depth qualitative focus groups, and an analysis of Lightcast’s proprietary set of 2019 job postings collected from approximately 40,000 websites.

The study, which was completed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, found that many of the problems military spouses face foreshadow what has happened in the broader economy. Military spouses have long struggled to find the remote and flexible work options that the rest of the country has been forced to adapt. The creativity and resilience these spouses have shown can be a useful guide in the post-COVID work world.