TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The sacrifices of military life often extend to civilians too—military spouses who may struggle to build careers despite the frequent moves that come with a life in the service.
People in the military often say the entire family is in the military even if only one person is actually wearing a uniform. That can lead to special challenges for military spouses as they try to maintain careers as the family moves across the globe to different assignments.
For military families life can be a series of sad goodbyes and happy reunions. Even when the family is together, the military lifestyle means committing the entire family to packing up and moving every two or three years.
“We currently have been on 14 assignments in 23 years. So if you do the math, we’ve moved more than every two years.”
Michelle Mills is the wife of Colonel Scott Mills, Commander of the 355th Wing, so the base commander at Davis Monthan. She knows firsthand how just when a career may be gaining momentum, it’s time to pick up, move and lose the contacts and local knowledge that help a career advance.
She says employers often hesitate to hire someone whose job history shows frequent job hops a military spouse may have, and people working in careers that require state licenses like teaching, medicine or law may have extra problems working unless a state accepts a license issued somewhere else.
“There are some states that are better than others. And I'm actually grateful to say Arizona is one of the best. They were some of the forerunners when the initial legislation started, at least in the legal space to talk about we need to make some continuity, some space between them where no matter which state you go through that you are able to keep your job.”
The COVID pandemic taught companies a lot of workers can live anywhere and get the job done on line. After working a wide range of jobs—and adapting with every relocation, Mrs Mills does a lot of her work online as a recruiter for Amazon.
Online work is a key to a bill from Senator Kyrsten Sinema. It makes it easier for military spouses to hold Federal jobs and do their work online.
Michelle Mills says bosses who hire military spouses often find the variety they’ve lived and the challenges they’ve faced make them strong, resourceful, adaptable workers who will stay with a company that helps them stay on board as they move from one duty location to the next.
“But if they can keep an opportunity for them, take the job with them, then they retain them so you don't have that constant backfill. It really in the long run saves you money to hire a military spouse.”
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