Thirty-four new companies have joined the Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP), promising to recruit, hire, and promote military spouses and help them maintain “portable careers.”

The companies, which operate in a wide variety of fields and have been vetted by the Department of Defense, join 96 other organizations that have made the same commitment. Among the new companies that pledged to hire military spouses are Clear Channel Radio, Goodwill Industries, Humana Inc., Tri-West, MetLife, Safeway (Vons) and US Bank.

The Military Spouse Employment Partnership was launched a year ago, and since then, its 96 existing member-companies have hired more than 22,000 military spouses. In addition, more than 446,140 jobs have been posted on the Military Spouse Employment Partnership jobs web portal.

All the companies signed the MSEP Statement of Support, and they all promise to:

• Increase employment opportunities for military spouses.
• Help spouses stay employed as they relocate.
• Provide promotion opportunities for spouses.
• Support pay equity for spouses based on their level of training, work experience, accomplishments and credentials.

Rob Gordon, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy, shared that companies with MSEP have “helped reduce the stress on mobile military spouses, by identifying portable career paths.” The idea, he said, is to have varied companies, with equally varied job opportunities. Gordon shared: “We’re not just talking about jobs, we’re talking about careers.”

There are a number of companies that already hire military spouses, but the web portal provides prospective employers with another way to reach out to these spouses.