USAA Ranks #1 on Military Spouse Magazine’s “2009 Most Military Spouse Friendly Employers” List

Experience, loyalty, work ethic cited as top reasons for recruiting military spouses

SAN ANTONIO – Military Spouse magazine has ranked USAA #1 on its 2009 list of America’s “Most Military Spouse Friendly Employers.” The third annual list, which is the magazine’s October cover story, recognizes a variety of major corporations for demonstrating a significant commitment to hiring spouses of military personnel. 

“USAA was named No. 1 because of its sustained and effective efforts to recruit military spouses,” said Military Spouse managing editor Josie Cellone. “And once the spouses are hired, USAA has the programs in place to support them and their unique lifestyle.”

USAA was chosen from among 2,500 companies achieving $1 billion in annual revenues.  Companies were evaluated on their efforts to recruit military spouses, results in recruiting from them and policies affecting them.

 “We know that military spouses sometimes feel corporate America prefers not to hire them because of their transient lifestyle. Well, we’re different,” said USAA CEO Maj. Gen. Joe Robles, USA (Ret.).  USAA was founded by military personnel who were experiencing the same discrimination from insurance companies that thought their transient lifestyles made for a bad risk. That kind of corporate thinking was wrong in 1922 and it’s wrong today, because military service members and spouses are great employees as well as great customers.”

USAA’s military spouse program ranges from hiring to employee benefits. Highlights include:

·         Military spouses make up 40 percent of USAA’s 2009 new hires with military experience.

·         Benefits programs assist military spouses with childcare during deployment by providing a “Life Referral” counselor who helps identify alternative childcare options.

·         Company-sponsored intranet sites guide spouses with financial, legal and benefit-related information.

·         USAA’s Employee Assistance Program provides mental health and well-being services to help address deployment-related challenges that military spouses may experience.

 “Military spouses bring a very specific set of skills to the company, such as flexibility, loyalty, and adaptability,” said USAA employee Maggie Hahn, wife of a retired U.S. Marine lieutenant colonel. “As a military spouse, we spend our lives living the mission of the armed forces right along with our soldier. Working at a company that embraces those core values makes being a USAA employee a perfect fit.”

Others among the Military Spouse top 10 are The Home Depot, RE/MAX International, West Corporation, Health Net Inc., CSC, Army & Air Force Exchange Service, Kelly Services, Adecco and TriWest Healthcare Alliance.

About USAA

USAA, a diversified financial services group of companies, is among the leading providers of financial planning, insurance, investments and banking products to members of the U.S. military and their families. For the past three years, BusinessWeek magazine ranked USAA among the top two "Customer Service Champs," highlighting our legendary commitment of providing highly competitive financial products for 7.2 million members. For more information about USAA, or to learn more about membership, visit www.usaa.com.