National military family nonprofit, Blue Star Families, announced the national release of their interactive online platform for career-minded military spouses and employers looking to hire military spouses.

The platform acknowledges the need for better employment options for military spouses. The Blue Star Families annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey found that 77 percent of military spouse respondents said that being a military spouse had a negative impact on their career. The majority of military spouses are underemployed or unemployed with a majority of employed spouses making less than $20,000 annually.

“Military spouses want to work and contribute financially to their families, but often are unable to given the needs of the military which often means that they must put the military’s plans above their own career aspirations,” said Beth Conlin, Senior Adviser for Careers. “Spouseforce helps employers understand the unique needs of military spouses.”

Military spouses who use the free Spouseforce platform are able to participate in an interactive tool that gives them the efficacy to explain where they are in their career journey. “We take this information and connect them to resume and interview prep or we connect them directly to professional training and hiring partners,” said Erika Clark, Career Manager.

Hiring partners are able to work with Career Managers to access the information in Spouseforce to better understand the terms and conditions under which military spouses need to work.

Spouseforce can be accessed at bluestarfam.org/spouseforce.