Amazon launches new technology to support military spouses

Military spouses average one household move every two and a half years-which is seven times more than civilian spouses, according to the Department of Defense. Amazon employs more than 45,000 veterans and military spouses in the U.S., so when we talked to military spouses and learned that a family move was the No. 1 reason they leave jobs at Amazon, we wanted to help.

"We shouldn't be losing valuable employees just because they move," said Beth Conlin, senior program manager of military spouse programs at Amazon. "We can't put military families in a position to choose financial security over service."

Conlin, a military spouse herself, had to put her own career on pause because of military moves. In fact, she has moved eight times in the past 11 years with her husband, who is currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

"Military spouse unemployment has been over 25% for a decade-and it's what in many cases drives active service members to stop serving," said Conlin. "It's exciting to see that Amazon both recognizes the value military spouses bring to the workforce and is committed to supporting one of the main barriers military spouses face when wanting to maintain their career."

Conlin and her recruiting team started by gathering feedback from military spouses working at Amazon. They analyzed the data. Then they started to create a new technology solution that would better support the lifestyles of military spouses. The result is a new tool called Project Juno, named after the Roman goddess of family, that helps employees find new roles at Amazon or maintain their careers after they move.

For Sydney Hoagland, an area manager in Garner, North Carolina, Project Juno was instrumental in her recent move. In May 2021, she was working as an area manager in Spartanburg, South Carolina, when she found out her husband would be relocated to North Carolina.

"At first, it was really intimidating because I didn't feel like I had anyone to talk to who would understand what I was going through as a military spouse," said Hoagland. "But then I heard about Project Juno from other military spouses also working at Amazon. From there, they just asked when I needed to arrive in North Carolina and set up my transfer. I mean, it was truly as seamless as it could be."

Project Juno uses Amazon's internal global system for managing employee information. In no more than five minutes, the tool helps employees input their new home location and timeline for their move. Then the system starts working to find the same job or a similar role near the employee's new home. Employees receive an update within 48 hours.

Beatriz McCarragher, currently in the active reserves for the U.S Navy and a military spouse, was an area manager at an Amazon fulfillment center in Baltimore, Maryland, when her husband received orders to move to South Carolina in 2020. Amazon helped her find the same role-just 18 miles from her new home-at an Amazon delivery center in Wentworth, Georgia.

"I think one of the things that a lot of military spouses don't realize is that military relocation is very stressful-but when you're with Amazon, they take care of everything," said McCarragher, who was born and raised in Spain.

"When I had to move a month and a half prior to my husband, I didn't have to stress out about the move at all because Amazon handled it all. And on top of that, I have a lot of support from the military spouse community outside of just my building. Most companies just don't have that," she said.

Amazon is now hiring in more than 40 U.S. states across hundreds of sites. Project Juno enables military spouses to view all open roles in their new location, empowering them to have clear ownership and transparency of their transfer.

"As Project Juno grows in capability, I'm just excited to see how many more military spouses we can support with the mobile military lifestyles," said Conlin. "Amazon's is not just committed to hiring military spouses-we are committed to retaining, developing, and promoting them."

Amazon has long supported the military community and in July announced its commitment to hire 100,000 veterans and military spouses by 2024. If you are a veteran or a military spouse interested in joining the company, visit Amazon's job and opportunities guidefor military members and their families.