(Tribune News Service) — The Department of Defense signed up 70 new employers willing to recruit and hire military spouses, the department said this week.

There are now more than 600 such organizations who say they are committed to recruiting, hiring, promoting and retaining military spouses, the department announced.

“I want to welcome and congratulate and thank the more than 70 new employer partners who have joined the Military Spouse Employment Partnership here today,” Gilbert Cisneros Jr., undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said in a release. “Today we’re celebrating your commitment and induction, and this marks the culmination of a robust vetting process, all of which clearly demonstrated that you, the class of 2023, are truly committed.”

Since the program began in 2011, it has helped link 250,000 military spouses to job opportunities across all industry sectors, Cisneros said.

“You’ve joined an elite group that opens you to the military spouse community and the diverse skills and talents that they offer,” he said.

Active-duty families face special pressures. Military-mandated family moves to new duty stations involve a certain amount of upheaval, forcing spouses to meet new licensing requirements in new states and make homes in new communities. Sometimes, the moves create gaps in employment resumes that create their own challenges, David Treacher, deputy director of government relations with the National Military Family Association, told the Dayton Daily News last month.

“Our unemployment rate kind of hovers around 21%, which is far above the civilian rate, as many of you know,” said Patricia Barron, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy.

A list of companies found in the Military Spouse Employment Partnership program can be found at https://msepjobs.militaryonesource.mil/msep/our-partners.

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