Walmart has announced the hiring of nearly 6,000 military spouses since launching the Military Spouse Career Connection (MSCC) on Veterans Day 2018. In its sixth month, the MSCC gives hiring preference to military spouses who seek employment with Walmart or Sam’s Club.
This announcement comes at a time when more than 75 percent of our nation’s 500,000 military spouses want or need work, according to the Department of Defense Military Spouse Employment Partnership. The MSCC serves as a natural step for Walmart, as the company’s Military Family Promise, now in its ninth year, also guarantees a job at a nearby store or club for all military personnel and military spouses employed by the company who move to a different part of the country as part of their military service.
“As a military wife, I feel like I served alongside my husband in a lot of ways,” said Katie Tidmore, Walmart associate and first hire through the Military Spouse Career Connection. “It was always so hard to find steady or consistent work. I’m grateful to Walmart for such a wonderful program.”
Beyond today’s announcement of the first hiring numbers for the MSCC, the Walmart Foundation awarded a $1 million grant to Hire Heroes USA to support the expansion of their employment programs and improve data collection and reporting. Notably, a portion of the funding will support a program manager for Hire Heroes’ Serving Spouses, a career coaching program tailored specifically for military spouses who face unique barriers to employment such as frequent moves, childcare challenges while a spouse is deployed, and having to re-obtain certifications that don’t transfer from state to state.
“We are grateful for the Walmart Foundation’s continued, generous support of Hire Heroes USA. This investment will help us continue our world-class program delivery for veterans and military spouses who face unique challenges in the civilian job search. Further, the grant will help us conduct critical data collection and analysis that will inform the entire veteran service community,” said Christopher Plamp, chief executive officer of Hire Heroes USA. “Through our partnership with Walmart, we will continue to strengthen military families and improve the lives of the men and women who have served our country.”
May also marks the sixth anniversary of Walmart’s Veterans Welcome Home Commitment (VWHC) which guarantees a job offer to any eligible, honorably discharged U.S. veterans who separated from active duty since the inception of the VWHC on Memorial Day 2013. To date, 226,637 have been hired and 35,383 have been promoted to roles with higher pay and greater responsibility at Walmart and Sam’s Club. The commitment recognizes the important skills and leadership abilities veterans bring to the civilian workforce, and helps veterans ease the often-difficult transition from active duty to civilian life. Walmart is now more than 90 percent of the way to reaching its goal of hiring 250,000 veterans by 2020
