Many people leaving Canada's military sooner because partner 'having a harder time in their career,' says expert
Military spouses face significant obstacles in maintaining stable careers, often due to the frequent relocations tied to military life.
The mobile nature of military life often forces spouses to prioritize their partner’s career over their own, explains Alan Kearns, managing partner at CareerJoy, in talking with Human Resources Director Canada.
“Military careers… tend to be more international in nature. If they're climbing the ranks, they're often moved around the world in different capacities,” he says.
While this scenario may be okay for single-income families, many spouses of military members now have their own careers – and the need for their partner to move around the world every few years could pose a challenge to their career, he says.
As a result, “people are leaving the military sooner” because their “partner is having a harder time in their career,” says Kearns.
“Either their career stalls or they can't do what they want to do or they think they have to live remotely from each other.”
Military families are the backbone of our defense community, yet their spouses face a 40% unemployment rate due to the nature of their mobile lifestyle, CareerJoy notes, citing a 2023 Canadian Armed Forces study.
One thing that’s helping military spouses – particularly those holding professional jobs – is the remote work setup, says Kearns.
Because a lot of employers have had a positive experience having workers work remotely, “they're more flexible in considering that, as an option, if [a worker's] spouse is being transferred somewhere else, they say ‘You don't have to leave the organization. We're going to your role.’”
Kearns notes, however, that military spouses should be expanding their horizons and learning new skills for them to be more attractive to employers.
They have to look at ways to ensure that they “have more offerings” in their skillset, he says, adding that getting some more certifications may help.
Overall, 60% of Canadians believe upskilling is very important for advancing their careers, reports Growclass.
CareerJoy offers CareerCoach+, a career transition and development program designed to assist with the disruption that can come with relocation as it relates to military spouses’ career development journey.
Canadian military members who are retiring in the near future will have to have a financial cushion once they are released from service. That’s because they will face delays in receiving “release benefits”, according to the Department of National Defence.
