I am happy to share some much-needed new legislation regarding the careers of our veterans and their families.
It took 10 years, but active duty and military spouses, known as milspouses, can now more easily transfer their professional licenses from one state to another when making a military move.
As signed by President Biden, the new federal law requires all states to provide reciprocity in accepting valid occupational licenses from previous jurisdictions (states), which was optional before.
Those licenses are required for a wide range of occupations such as Realtors, nurses, teachers, cosmetologists, and as many as a hundred others. The one exception, no surprise, is the practice of law because laws are not the same in every state.
But it seems like common sense that a trained nurse can be a nurse in any state, doesn’t it? After all, a patient is a patient in any state.
My active military friends joke that if I were banged up and in an emergency room, would I be okay with a medic with years of experience in battle conditions taking care of me?
Of course, I’d be.
And I surely think that a medical license, training, and experience in the military or private sector should transfer easily to any hospital, whenever it happens to be located.
Spouses waited for their licenses to be approved
For too long, it’s often been an expensive and time-consuming process, causing hits to family income, as spouses waited for their licenses to be approved to begin looking for work in their chosen field.
Now, thanks to the new law, a military member or spouse may take a side job selling real estate, preparing for a new full-time career when they transition out of the military.
Of course, those newly transferred military would be wise to get fully acquainted with their new state’s real-estate laws. But they don’t need to go back to real estate school to do so.
Great immediate benefit to our region
The new legislation figures to be of immediate and lasting benefit to our San Diego region.
The San Diego SDMAC 2022 Military Economic Impact Report shows that the military is a $56.2 billion economic engine in our region. The head counts are equally impressive — 90,000 active Navy and 48,000 active Marines.
As employers, our hope is that this legislation allows thousands of military spouses and active duty to reenter the job market quickly after a move. This takes pressure off employers who desperately need good workers.
We already know that military spouses are among the best employees. Their association with active military teaches them the need for dependability, flexibility, and taking responsibility.
Now, with remote work, many can keep their current job, continue working from home, and work in any state in the country.
This legislation allows them to seek out advanced training, knowing they will be able to utilize it over many years of multiple state deployments.
A relatively untapped, reliable source of talent
For employers, balancing where talent is and where it is needed continues to be an ongoing challenge. And I’ve always believed that veterans and milspouses are a relatively untapped, reliable source of workplace talent.
I saw that firsthand recently when I was invited to review graduation ceremonies for young enlistees who officially became Marines. My thanks to Brigadier General Jason L. Morris, Commanding General, MCRD, and his wife for the invitation.
At the post-event reception, I met several veterans and milspouses who planned their careers to end up in San Diego and are planning to transition into the local workforce. They will make excellent employees.
By the way, if you ever want to feel very proud of American youth, you should attend one of these graduations, which are open to the public.
So, where do employers who are eager to hire find these valued veterans and milspouses to match up with?
For active-duty military, there are many organizations such as Pathfinder (uso.org) and Zero8Hundred (zero8hundred.org). For milspouses, I recommend Blue Star Families ([email protected]).
This is a real win for employees and employers. I like these kinds of wins because what we do changes lives.
Blair is co-founder of Manpower Staffing
