Furthering our Commitment to Military Families

On Veterans Day we announced a new initiative to recruit and hire military spouses, which we’re calling the Military Spouse Career Connection.

We want to decrease unemployment among military spouses across the country and are committed to providing them with a career path, regardless of where they may have to go in support of their active or reserve military spouse.

Rocky Strzelecki, a veteran who now serves our company as an Area Manager in Distribution Center 6008, and his wife, Mary both work for the company. Rocky said he thinks more than giving military spouses a career, this new initiative will allow them to be part of a family environment when they need it most.

"Walmart creates a family environment, and with that, there’s a lot of support for someone whose husband or wife is deployed."

“I think it will mean the world to [military spouses],” Rocky said. “One thing I’ve learned is that Walmart creates a family environment and with that, there’s a lot of support for someone whose husband or wife is deployed. It will be great for them to have someone to talk to. A lot of times, they might be national guard wives or reserve wives who don’t necessarily have on-base support that active military has.”

I’m so excited that we’re on track to surpass our goal of hiring 250,000 veterans by 2020. Rocky spent time in the U.S. Navy before joining Walmart and joined the Army National Guard during his time with the company, where he had a two-year deployment. He said this commitment can make a big difference in a veteran’s life.

"I think it’s awesome that Walmart commits to hiring them and helping families out,”

“You look across the nation and there are a lot of folks coming out of the military who don’t have anywhere they can go. I think it’s awesome that Walmart commits to hiring them and helping families out,” Rocky said.

I’m grateful for the service Rocky and every other active, reserve or veteran military member has given to our country. As Doug McMillon said at our Veterans Day Celebration, “military spouses are unsung heroes” as well. 

Military families like the Strzelecki family make a difference for our country, and we’re proud to have Rocky and Mary making the difference for our customers now as well. They’re just one example of many military families that are part of our Walmart family, and I can’t wait to add more.

Military spouses who are interested in being part of our new hiring commitment can visit walmartspouseswithamission.com to learn more and apply for a job.