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The brand-new policy also urged the department's hiring managers to focus on military partners for noncompetitive appointments before thinking about prospects without hiring preference when working with for functions in the competitive and the excepted service. Department of Defense Education Activity schools will now be permitted to employ military spouses as quickly as they receive official modification of station orders instead of waiting until 30 days before their relocation.

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"The evidence remains in the pudding, it's constantly how they pick to execute. They can make all the ideas they desire, but unless they follow through, unless they track it, it doesn't truly have any teeth. It's going to need to be one of those wait and see kind of things," Hoppin told Federal News Network.

Anything that's going to assist facilitate quicker working with and less wait time is an excellent thing. But it's going to all return to how efficiently they implement things," she included. And the policy's emphasis on authorizing alternative worksites may be limited in practice, depending on the types of roles available to military partners.

I think all of it depends on what kind of tasks they're going to push military spouses towards, since if they are classroom tasks or tasks that require you to be on site, then I do not understand how that's going to help with the flexibility part," Hoppin said. The memo, nevertheless, introduces a brand-new reporting requirement that could, for the very first time, shed light on how often military spouses are thought about and selected for tasks and why they are passed over.

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Hoppin stated the department must not miss out on the chance to collect more granular data, such as how numerous positions offer alternative work flexibilities, alerting that otherwise the collected data might not tell the full story. "The feedback we obtain from military spouses is we would like to see more remote work chances or hybrid chances.

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"I do not understand of a time when we've actually had this strict reporting requirement so I think that's heartening I hope we do not stay top line questioning. I hope that they dive a little bit deeper and inquire to report more in depth about why military partners weren't employed and what the challenges were.

As part of this push to work with more military partners, the department also desires working with managers to make higher use of an existing database of military partner candidates through the Military Spouse Education and Profession Opportunities website. Agency skill management groups will provide working with managers with access to and training on the MySECO system.

"Military spouses first of all, have to know about the resource. As a military partner, you might put your details in there as soon as, but by the time you go back to it, you may have moved 2 or 3 times and the information may be irrelevant so it's going to require a strong marketing push," Hoppin said.

The success of the policy, Hoppin said, will depend on how successfully the department brings multiple groups on board at the very same time. Military spouses will require to know what resources are readily available to them, while hiring managers will require training on new hiring systems and how to use those systems to determine prospects.

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Plus, the policy is restricted to DoD it would need to be scaled throughout the federal government to drive meaningful modification. "I think it's a great start, however it's still one company and one effort. I likewise don't believe that we're going to have the ability to minimize that military partner unemployment rate unless we look at the retention concerns," Hoppin stated.

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We're happy to partner with military-focused organizations to support veterans, service members, and military partners in their next chapter. These collaborations show our continuous commitment to honoring your service, acknowledging your sacrifices, and helping you build a successful civilian profession and life. 50strong works to build a military ready civilian workforce by helping service members, veterans, spouses, and military affiliated students link directly with companies seeking their distinct abilities.

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This is all free of charge for jobseekers. Employer Assistance of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) is a Department of Defense program dedicated to enhancing relationships between civilian employers and National Guard and Reserve service members. Through education, outreach, and recognition efforts, ESGR encourages supportive office practices and fosters understanding of the worth these service members bring to the civilian labor force.