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Personalized Support for Military Spouses

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Personalized Support for Military Spouses

How stressed are you at this exact moment? 1-10? What came to mind first when you started reading?

If you’re like most of us trying to navigate the ever-changing world of work in the third year of a global pandemic, you probably sighed into your third or fourth coffee and thought…I don’t even know anymore, 9? Life has become unpredictable whether you’re on-site, hybrid, remote, sales, administrative, warehouse, marketing, recruiting, or a circus performer. Current events weigh heavy on our hearts, our climate is in crisis, and yet through it all, perhaps most stressful can be our need to put food on the table and to provide for our families.

In 2018, pre-pandemic, before we collectively settled into our sweatpants and disassociated, I was shocked to learn that even then, folks married to military service members were experiencing unemployment at a 30% rate – their own depression. A common challenge for employment-seeking military spouses is the ability for their careers to be portable. Often, the spouse’s career takes a back seat to that of the service members. With deployments, PCS moves, separations, and other military life stressors, maintaining a steady career can be quite difficult for military spouses. What was even more revealing to me, after we decided at IST Management to start an internal initiative to try to hire from this community, was the total waste of talent that this is for the workforce!

Gainful Employment for Military Spouses

As we became more involved with our GEMS initiative at IST Management – Gainful Employment for Military Spouses, we began a very special partnership with the Department of Defense called the Military Spouse Employment Partnership – one of only 540 inducted organizations in the US. Along with the wealth of knowledge we gained from attending MSEP events, what was most clear to me was the welcoming nature of the military spouse community and their relentless positivity even when facing unique and often surprising challenges that go along with being part of a military family.

We’ve had our GEMS program for three years now, and 24 employees have opted-in since 2019. We’ve created policies that we hope will help to relieve stress for military spouses and military families that find employment with IST Management and other members of the MSEP partnership, relating to PTO, leave, and transitioning into roles. Our goal is to take just a little bit of that modern life stress from the job search and career-building process for military spouses already dealing with the additional challenges that come from the sacrifices military families make to keep us safe.

We’ve also created a stress-free way for military spouses interested in learning about employment at IST Management and our GEMS program to submit their information to us and be contacted via email directly by an IST Management hiring manager. If you or someone you know is looking for a change – please check us out here https://www.istmanagement.com/military-spouse-hiring!

I think it’s easy to get lost in the sea of challenges that are part of everyday life for the average worker in 2022 – military or not, but it can help to remember that helping even one individual makes a positive change in the world. Suppose we can use our GEMS program to continue to make small improvements in the lives of others by eliminating or even just reducing those unnecessary stressors related to employment for military spouses. In that case, I’m proud to say it’s a runaway success.

IST Management also has other resources for employees dealing with mental health challenges and has created a web page dedicated to connecting employees with these resources. If you or anyone you know is struggling or interested in seeking help, please check it out here https://www.istmanagement.com/mental-health-resources.