Hiring is important, but for military spouses the real challenge is sustaining a career within a given profession during constant geographic relocations. The key question the index attempts to address is the career of the military spouse. The Military Friendly® methodology considers the policies, processes, resources and investments that have the greatest impact on career opportunity and advancement for military spouses. It identifies the employers that demonstrably provide the greatest career potential. The category weightings are as follows:
Culture & Commitment to Military Spouses: 30%
Hiring & On-boarding: 5%
Military Employee Policies & Compliance: 5%
Military Employee Support & Retention: 5%
Military Spouse Employee Policies & Compliance: 5%
Military Spouse Employee Support & Retention: 20%
Career Opportunity & Advancement: 30%
The Military Spouse Friendly Employers® survey takes a detailed look at the lifecycle of military spouse employees: What employers do to attract, hire, and develop them; as well as the policies and practices with which employers support them along the way. The survey offers an opportunity to highlight the efforts of companies across the country to help military spouse employees have long-term careers.
Military spouses have the education, background, and talent to be important contributors to companies that seek diverse job candidates. More and more companies are finding out that this pool of talent is a huge asset to their organizations. Read what military spouses have to say about these companies. Military Friendly® is pleased to present 96 Military Spouse Friendly Employers®. The list is one in a series published annually by Military Friendly® identifying those employers and schools that do the most for veterans and military families. The companies on the Military Friendly® list represent a diverse field of industries, including insurance, retail, finance, health care and more. Save this list! Perhaps you might find the company that will be your next employer.
Advertising in Military Spouse, or purchasing services, is not considered when scoring surveys or earning the Military Friendly® designation. Only employers that have successfully met the minimum thresholds and standards, have completed and submitted the current year’s survey, and have been scored as being Military Friendly® can use the designation title. Employers that receive the Military Friendly® designation are provided a free profile on militaryfriendly.com to make it easy for our audience to learn more about the organization. It is important to note that our scoring is fully automated. EY (Ernst & Young), a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services, independently tests the validity and consistency of each year’s survey results by testing the scoring methodology developed by Viqtory. Methodology reviews are performed by EY Assurance Services unit.
#1: Combined Insurance
Combined Insurance Company of America is a leading provider of individual supplemental accident, disability, health and life insurance products, and a Chubb company. Since setting up its military program in 2010, Combined has hired more than 2,500 of America’s veterans and pledged to hire 2,000 more by the end of 2019. Including military spouses and family members, the company has put more than 4,400 members of the military and veteran community to work since 2010, which helped Combined Insurance earn recognition as the #1 Military Spouse Friendly Employer® for 2019.
“Veterans and their family members are mission-focused, integrity-driven, and self-starters,” said Bob Wiedower, vice president of sales development and military programs at Combined Insurance. “For these reasons and more they make great employees, and have significantly impacted our business operations.”
Combined Insurance is committed to making the world of supplemental insurance easy to understand. With a tradition of nearly 100 years of success, Combined Insurance has an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau, is one of Ward’s Top 50® Performing Life-Health Insurance Companies, and was named the #1 Military Friendly® Employer for 2019 by Military Friendly®, making it the company’s eighth consecutive year in the top 10 of the Military Friendly® Employers list and the fifth consecutive year in the top five.
#2: United Rentals, Inc.
United Rentals, Inc. is the largest equipment rental company in the world. The company’s approximately 19,000 employees serve construction and industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and others. With over 1,000 company locations, our goal is to accommodate military spouses with their unique challenges as well as assign them to a new work location upon their service member’s move to a new base location. Through our membership with the Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP), veteran job fairs, and our recruitment team, we connect military spouses with job opportunities. They are also welcomed into Veterans United, United Rentals’ employee resource group of passionate employees who eagerly give back to individuals and organizations that have served in the armed forces.
“As a military spouse it is tough to advance your career due to frequent moves every two to four years. I chose United Rentals because they are aware of these challenges and provide support that enables me to stay with the same company, develop myself, my career, and most importantly honor my duty to my spouse and my country.” – Melanie Allen, outside sales representative, United Rentals
#3: Aviall
Aviall, a Boeing Company, keeps the world in flight by providing
aftermarket parts, equipment and services for the aviation industry with 40 global locations and 1,500 employees. Aviall believes there is value in diversity, and that inclusion makes us a better and stronger global community. We are proud to support military and veteran spouses by providing competitive salaries and performance-based incentives alongside a full suite of benefits that includes Health Reimbursement Accounts that work with Tricare, 12 weeks of paid parental leave, adoption assistance and sustainable career advancement opportunities. Veteran spouses are invited to join our Veterans Business Resource Group, which provides support, recognition and development of veteran employees and their families in addition to supporting the communities in which they live.
“I couldn’t be more grateful to our Aviall family for their support during my husband’s deployment. From offering to do the little things like mowing our yard, to helping me with the annual benefits enrollment, Aviall was always there. I knew that if I or the boys ever needed anything that Aviall was just a phone call away.” – Holly Walker
#4: Leidos
Leidos is a Fortune 500® information technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world’s toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets. Operation MVP is Leidos’ official Military Veteran Outreach Program. Our mission is to build veteran talent pipelines and increase our presence as a preferred employer for veteran and military spouse candidates. By assisting transitioning service members and military spouses in their job search, we help build our employer brand within the veteran community, and increase our available qualified talent.
Through this program, we partner with military transition centers, military associations, and military spouse organizations in an effort to identify and hire separating and retiring military veterans. Leidos and the Operation MVP team participate in specific career development and networking events geared towards the veteran and military dependent/caregiver population. We stay actively engaged with military transition offices, department of labor representatives, as well as veteran non-profit and membership organizations geared towards the employment of veterans and military spouses.
“My work at Leidos provides stability to my family and the peace of mind that when we move again, either to a planned location and with plenty of time or a last minute change of plans and to an unexpected location. I will not have to sacrifice my career. Being able to practice engineering, work in cutting-edge projects like the one I am presently involved with at NASA, and have my own career are very important to us, it helps keep me grounded in this chaotic lifestyle and brings perspective and a sense of balance into our lives.” – Lizanne Carlos, civil and environmental engineer, Leidos
#5: Verizon
Verizon operates America’s most reliable wireless network and the nation’s premier all-fiber network, and delivers integrated solutions to businesses worldwide. The Verizon Military Recruitment Team understands how valuable the experience of a military spouse can be for the company. Military spouses have the education, background and talent to be important contributors. Verizon also understands the unique challenges they face when trying to build a career, including frequent moves and deployments. As part of our commitment to support military families, we work hard to make it possible for military spouses to have a successful career with Verizon.
During the pre-employment process, candidates can identify themselves as a military spouse. Our Military Recruitment Team helps match skills with job roles. Our Military Spouse Talent Network also helps candidates find good career opportunities for military spouses. Our Careers landing page for the military provides one-stop shopping and resources for service members and spouses. We offer benefits such as remote work opportunities and tuition assistance.
“So you have this military career, but how do you sell that to a civilian corporation? How do you translate your skills? Verizon has a resume builder for military and spouses. Simple things like that are amazing.” – Tina Collura- George, digital ops manager, Verizon
#6: Motel 6/Studio 6
AtMotel 6/Studio 6 our commitment to guests is the same as the day we opened in 1962: no frills, a clean comfortable room at the lowest price of any national chain. Honor. Value. Integrity. These are qualities military spouses and Motel 6/Studio 6 have in common. We encourage military spouses to explore Operation Next Step, where they can start the next chapter of their career with a company that honors where they’ve been, and where their next step will be. Motel 6/Studio 6 is a fully portable company that has partnered with the Department of Defense through MSEP, to provide military spouses with an opportunity to maintain a long-term career.
“G6 Hospitality provided me, a stay-at-home mom of 14 years, with the opportunity to work in their design and construction office with little to no experience. In the last six years, I have developed my professional skills and hope to someday be a project manager with this organization. I have also been given the opportunity to lead the G6 Hospitality’s Total Armed Services Committee (TASC), providing veterans and their families with charitable donations and much needed support.” – Darby Mack, operations coordinator, TASC lead, G6 Hospitality
#7: USAA
The USAA family of companies provides insurance, banking, investments, retirement products and advice to more than 12 million current and former members of the U.S. military and their families. USAA is a leader in hiring military spouses and recognizes the value in employing those with a military background. We recognize that military spouses are a key component of the military community. Their success is critical to both the readiness of our military and the wellbeing of military families. Military spouses, like veterans, are given priority during our candidate screening process. In addition, USAA supports military spouses by supporting events and organizations that advocate and educate military spouses around the world.
“It has been incredibly refreshing working for a company that supports the military spouse community. With my husband’s most recent PCS, I was able to retain my position and embark on working from home versus starting the job hunting process over again. Such a relief.” – Tiffany Fudge, media marketing lead, USAA
#8: Allstate
The Allstate Corporation is the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer, protecting approximately 16 million households. Being a military spouse is a tough job in itself. The on-the-go lifestyle that comes with relocations and deployments can be challenging for you and your family. Still, we know you’d like to have a career that fulfills you. That’s why Allstate Agency Owners are proud to extend job opportunities to military spouses. And the best part: you can choose to work full time or part time, giving you a flexible schedule. Founded in 1931, Allstate has been dedicated to protecting our customers from life’s uncertainties and preparing them for the future for more than 85 years. Allstate agencies are in virtually every local community in America. Military inclusiveness is a strategic component of Allstate’s success in today’s marketplace, and we all work together to fulfill our Good Hands® promise.
#9: Prudential Financial
For more than 140 years, Prudential Financial has helped individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirementrelated services, mutual funds and investment management. Prudential’s goal is to offer military spouses portable careers, and, in many instances, that means helping to eliminate barriers to retaining military spouse talent. We have commissioned research with IVMF that is focused on portable careers for military spouses and providing a playbook for interested companies to follow to implement. Prudential created an internal task force of subject matter experts across human resources—including pay and benefits, employment law, tax, and other areas—to define our internal policies and procedures to support military spouse employment and portable careers.
To ensure we are looking at the topic from all angles, we also created two focus groups – one consisting of military spouse employees and the other their managers. Convening these focus groups has allowed us to understand issues, challenges, and successes and helps us focus on solving the right issues to keep us moving forward.
#10: Camping World
Camping World is the leading outdoor lifestyle retailer. The outdoors is a big place and just as it offers endless adventures, so does our company. Camping World stands united with veterans and military spouses at all levels of our organization across the country. We offer a culture that values both the leadership and skills learned through military service, while providing the flexibility needed by military spouses who may be going through a PCS. We’ll help you find the same, or similar, role with the company wherever your move takes you in the U.S. and if you need to change your hours or take a temporary leave due to your partner’s deployment, we’ll make sure you’re supported. Even better, Camping World will continue to invest in your professional growth through extensive on-the-job training and initiatives like our Education Assistance Program. We are a proud MSEP partner and honored to be listed as a top spouse employer in 2019!
“I have been a military spouse for the last eight years, and I can tell you it’s not the easiest position to be in while trying to build a foundation for your career. One of the biggest challenges after our last PCS to Columbus, Georgia, was finding a company that would invest in my professional development with the understanding that I may have to relocate after a short period of time. I found that here and was supported from day one.” – Meghan Woodruff, market manager, Camping World
2019 Military Spouse Friendly Employers
For more information about these employers, visit MilitaryFriendly.com.
Combined Insurance
United Rentals, Inc.
Aviall Services Inc.
Leidos
Verizon
Motel 6 / Studio 6
USAA
Allstate Insurance
Prudential Financial, Inc.
Camping World
Bozzuto
Windstream Communications
AECOM
Zeiders Enterprises Inc.
Horizon Blue Cross Blue
Shield of New Jersey
Aviation Training Consulting, LLC
UnitedHealth Group
The Exchange (Army & Air
Force Exchange Service)
Capital One Financial Corporation
Dominion Energy, Inc.
Adecco Group
La Quinta Inns & Suites
Navient Solutions LLC
Werner Enterprises
Enterprise Holdings, Inc.
Hilton
Athene Holding Ltd.
Humana
Strategic Staffing Solutions
CBRE Group, Inc.
Comcast NBCUniversal
Vectrus
Booz Allen Hamilton
Deloitte
TEKsystems
Starbucks
Amazing Athletes
Merck & Co., Inc.
PwC
Premise Health
CVS Health
JCPenney
Perspecta
Kelly Services, Inc.
First Command Financial Services, Inc.
ADP
The Western & Southern Life
Insurance Company
Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
Southern Company
Southwest Airlines Co.
BNSF Railway
Veterans United Home Loans
Walmart
HCA, Hospital Corporation of America
Lockheed Martin
Quicken Loans
G4S Secure Solutions (USA) Inc.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Ameren
Marsh & McLennan Companies
KeyBank
Chenega Corporation
AT&T
Kaiser Permanente
Logistics Health Incorporated
U.S. Security Associates
Citi
General Motors
DaVita, Inc.
CRST
The Home Depot
Apex Systems
Northrop Grumman
Teleperformance
NorthCrest Medical Center
Citizens Bank
United States Postal Service
Progressive Insurance
ManTech International
Archer Daniels Midland Company
Wells Fargo & Company
Cigna
Performance Contractors, Inc.
WIlliams-Sonoma Inc.
Tennessee Valley Authority
Crown Equipment Corporation
SEI Investments
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
JLL
7-Eleven, Inc.
Aetna
MetLife
Avis Budget Group
Randstad USA
TMC Transportation
DynCorp International