An Air Force couple discusses employment opportunities during a career fair at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia on Oct. 13, 2022. A new direct-hire program offered by the service aims to make it easier for qualified civilian spouses stationed overseas to find employment. (Whitney Gillespie/U.S. Air Force)
An Air Force pilot program aims to address high unemployment among military spouses stationed overseas by helping them more quickly land a new job.
The new direct-hire authority program is designed to provide civilian spouses who face restrictive employment laws in foreign countries with easier access to base employment, the service said in a statement.
Employers participating in the effort would be able to allow spouses to skip the line of a longer, competitive hiring process for open positions.
“We recognize that spouse employment is a fundamental quality of life issue for our airmen and guardians, especially for families in overseas locations,” John Carbone, the Air Force’s director of civilian force management for manpower, personnel and services, said in the statement Thursday.
Direct-hire positions must be permanently located overseas and compensated under the general schedule or federal wage system grade of GS-15 or below and equivalent, according to the Air Force statement.
The Air Force said it will use public notices via civilian personnel offices and will identify qualifying jobs on usajobs.gov and afcivilianservice.com.
U.S. citizens who are dependents with command sponsorship are eligible for the program, Air Force spokeswoman Laurel Falls told Stars and Stripes on Friday. Non-citizen spouses with U.S. resident visas and green cards would not be eligible.
The number of jobs that will be made available under the program is unclear because it will be up to hiring managers to choose whether to participate. Additionally, the availability of positions will vary over time, Falls said.
Initial appointments to jobs under the program are limited to two years and can be extended twice for a maximum of six years, according to the Air Force statement.
The employment also would end when the military member moves to another assignment or in the event of divorce, death, retirement or separation from active duty by the sponsor.
Military spouses face significant unemployment and wage disparities compared with their civilian counterparts because of the challenges posed by frequent relocations and deployments, according to the Air Force Personnel Center and several outside studies in recent years.
The pilot program is scheduled to run through 2026.
