Homefront Heroes Hiring (HHH) Program: Supporting military spouses with career portability

By Ali Nelson, Military Talent Strategic Sourcing team and Military Spouse

Did you know that the unemployment rate of military spouses currently sits around 22%? This far exceeds the national average of 4.3% and is largely a result of permanent change of station — where active-duty military personnel are required to move locations due to assignment, detail, or transfer under competent orders — which makes it challenging for spouses to have a stable career.

Being a military spouse often means putting your own career on hold to allow room to relocate at any given moment, often to remote locations without a large job market and career opportunities.

In May 2022, Wells Fargo stepped up to help support the troops and launched the Military Spouse Homefront Heroes Hiring Program (HHH). This program was designed to onboard military spouses into temporarily remote, hybrid, and in-office career opportunities?with a focus on portability. The program’s design targets spouses of those actively serving and provides the opportunity to better grow a stable career.

The scale and complexity of HHH demonstrates Wells Fargo’s understanding of the unique career challenges faced by military spouses and its commitment to helping solve the problem. Like most complex issues, we’re far from a solution, but I am happy to say that this program worked for me and many others.

My journey with Wells Fargo’s HHH program

Previously working for the Department of Defense, I spent years helping the military community transition to careers in Corporate America. Through the HHH program, Wells Fargo allowed me to take that leap myself while I was still an active-duty military spouse. When I started in my current role in August of 2022, I was approved to work remotely (temporarily) outside of our core market location strategy while we were stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune on the coast of North Carolina.

Back then, I knew my spouse was nearing military retirement in the next year or two, which gave us time to plan our last move. This time, we would be relocating for my job, not his, which was very different territory for our family.

After two years working remote through the HHH program due to our active military orders, my family relocated to Charlotte — a core market.

My leadership was incredibly supportive during the journey from day one. I appreciated my manager’s initial candor about location strategy down the road, and I felt supported every step of the way. When it finally came time to execute our final military move, I was very thankful to take advantage of Wells Fargo’s Relocation Time Away benefit, which provides up to one regularly scheduled workweek of paid time away, which allowed me to handle a laundry list of tasks such as finding a home, packing/unpacking, and enrolling our two kids in school. Without this exception and Wells Fargo’s commitment to support military spouses, I’m confident I wouldn’t be sharing this story today.

A family affair

Having my spouse also join the stagecoach was not something either one of us initially planned.

With a technology background, he had his sights set on other tech companies and even participated in a DoD Skillbridge opportunity with one before he retired, while continuing to cast a wide net of applications with other companies. One of those applications was at Wells Fargo for a Sr. Technology Business Systems Consultant role that was a part of the Julie Scammahorn National Military Apprentice Program.

It was the perfect opportunity for him to translate and bridge his military skills while also acclimating to the global Technology climate. He will celebrate his one-year anniversary at Wells Fargo this fall, and I could not be prouder of him and thankful to Wells Fargo for its outstanding commitment to the military community.

Opportunity for my community

Wells Fargo recognizes the value of military talent, and my family’s journey is only one account of the company’s commitment to hire and retain military talent. Look where you want to go, network, and use our Military Talent Strategic Sourcing team as a resource to help you get there.

To learn more about the HHH program, visit Military Spouse Homefront Hiring Program.