AFSA FCS Vice President Update: December 13, 2005

This is a special AFSANET message from Donald Businger VP Commerce re the Spousal Employment Programs of the Family Liaison Office (FLO), Department of State, which facilitate employment opportunities for Foreign Commercial Service (FCS) spouses as well as all other spouses under Chief of Mission (COM) authority at post. FCS spouses are strongly encouraged to review these programs on the FLO website at http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/c9652.htm and to submit their employment needs and resumes to the FLO and/or its local post representative for inclusion in the programs.

On December 2, 2005, the "Director General's Forum on the Challenges and Opportunities of Overseas Spousal Employment" was held at the State Department with participation by multinational firms and organizations from inter alia Abbott Labs and Bearing Point to Price Waterhouse Coopers and the World Bank. DG Ambassador W. Robert Pearson gave the opening remarks and introduced Under Secretary for Management Henrietta Fore for her keynote address "Building Public-Private Partnerships". Ann DeLong Greenberg, the newly appointed Director of the FLO presented the "Department of State Spousal Employment Initiatives." This was followed by private sector panel briefings/discussion on best practices, work permits, and new initiatives, including Manpower's partnership with the Department of State.

The underlying premise for the FLO programs – which cover all Foreign Service spouses (including FCS) and other spouses under COM authority at post- is the recognition that lack of spousal employment opportunities has become the # 1 issue in retention and curtailment of FSOs. While the December 2 event was designed to highlight the most recent initiative – the Global Employment Initiative (GEI)-- it also noted the more established Strategic Network Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP, started in 2002, was a FLO initiative "dedicated to assisting spouses of USG employees ...abroad with their search for employment on the local economy" in countries where we have bilateral work agreements or a de facto work arrangement for work permits. There are currently 35 posts served by Local or Regional Employment Advisors under the SNAP program. SNAP services include resume reviews, career counseling, workshops and identification of employment opportunities on the local economy for interested spouses.

A good number of the posts where FCS officers are stationed are in countries covered by SNAP, so FCS commercial officers and their spouses should identify and contact their SNAP coordinator if they have not already done so. The list of SNAP coordinators is posted at this time on the State intranet - available either in the Consular Section on a State computer or with the Community Liaison Officer (CLO). Likewise, although the program has just been rolled out and is in some respects still being defined, FCS spouses should seek to submit their resumes for the GEI as soon as possible to keep pace with other FSO spouses. Mr. Businger also made the point at the event that GEI outreach to FCS officers at posts – to the extent it may not have already occurred – would be highly beneficial, as FCS is often most familiar with the multinational partners, with multipliers like the American Chambers of Commerce, and with local employment conditions and networking. FCS officers are also encouraged to work with the local SNAP coordinators to assist with networking and provide appropriate business contacts.