Removing barriers for jobseekers in the D.C. area

When she was younger, Christine Abbott wanted to work in healthcare as an emergency doctor or nurse. Her career plans changed, though, when she married an active-duty Air Force member. After all, service members and their families have a saying: “Home is where the military sends us.”

Military families can be redeployed anywhere at any time—and it happens pretty frequently. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 81% of military families experience a Permanent Change of Station move during their service. Instead of pursuing a medical career, Abbott worked in human resources while her husband was stationed in Utah. Once she had children, she took time off to raise them. During that break, she and her family were relocated five times in 15 years. Recently, Abbott and her family moved again—this time to the Washington D.C. area. Now that her girls are teenagers, Abbott decided she would reenter the workforce. At first, this seemed daunting. Then, while scrolling through a military spouses Facebook group, she came across a post that excited her.

JPMorganChase was launching a new, fully remote virtual call center in her area. The call center’s jobs were designed specifically for people like her: spouses of career active-duty military. Abbott applied for and was hired in February 2025 as part of the program’s inaugural 41-member cohort, making her one of thousands of military spouses that JPMorganChase employs across the country. The cohort is just one example of the firm’s commitment to supporting military families. Alongside ten other companies, JPMorganChase founded the Veteran Jobs Mission (VJM), which is now a coalition of 315+ companies with the goal of expanding employment opportunities for U.S. military veterans and their families. Since it was founded in 2011, VJM has made more than a million military hires.

“Moving back to DC, I was re-entering the workforce and no one wanted to hire me. I was having a really hard time finding a job, and so this position came at just the right time for me,” says Abbott. “I’m finally getting back to work after my 15-year break.”

Making a commitment to D.C. workers

Abbott is just one of more than 1,500 people who work for JPMorganChase in the Greater D.C. area. Additionally, we’re making a significant commitment to regional growth, doubling our planned branch openings from 70 in 2018 to 140 by the end of 2025 .

Our dedication to helping residents find jobs doesn’t stop inside our walls either. To date, more than 1,900 D.C. area residents have been placed into apprenticeships or hired for full- or part-time work through programs supported by JPMorganChase.

We’re boosting programs that address the skills gap that leaves D.C. residents on the outside looking in at local job postings —and helping set D.C. residents up for great careers across sectors. One such program, TalentReady, is part of an alliance with Greater Washington Partnership and Education Strategy Group. We’ve committed $5.3 million to help the initiative expand K-12 student access to educational opportunities and create pathways to jobs that will help meet the region’s growing demand for talent.

We are also investing in skills and training to help adult D.C. residents find new, and often better, career opportunities. We know that when people work, the entire economy becomes stronger and more resilient. One of the programs we support provides culinary training for adults and healthy meals for children experiencing food insecurity. Another teaches D.C. residents in technical fields such as IT and cybersecurity, followed by job placement services.

“We are investing in skills training programs to help D.C area residents launch careers in well-paying, in-demand fields because we know a prosperous job market is the foundation of a strong economy,” says Tim Berry, global head of corporate responsibility and chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Region at JPMorganChase. “The expansion of our virtual call center program reflects our commitment to addressing the unique needs of military families and creating career opportunities for top talent, and we’re excited to continue supporting similar initiatives across the region more broadly.”

Our commitment to building sustainable careers in the D.C. area starts at home. Not just with programs like the cohort of military spouses at the virtual call center, but with career training for employees already in our branches. One example is a partnership with Guild Education that provides JPMorganChase employees coverage for up to 100% of their tuition when they pursue select associate and bachelor degrees, take bootcamps, or enter certificate and certification programs.

Working for a company that cares about its employees has made a big impact on Christine Abbott. She finally feels like she has a job no matter where her husband’s service takes her. She also loves what she does, reveling in her ability to adapt quickly and “dive right in” when customers call in need of assistance.

Answering questions and solving customer problems is easy thanks to the skills she’s learned being a military spouse. We believe those skills make staffing up a call center with people like Christine a good business move, too. That’s why we’re also hiring a second cohort of virtual call center employees in the D.C. area who will stay with us even if their spouse’s service requires a move elsewhere.

“We're called a re-deployable call center because we can take the job with us when the military moves us to our next assignment,” Abbott says. “We just get a box and pack up our stuff, and it moves ahead or behind my household goods. And then, when we get to the next place, I can just pick up where I left off and be able to keep my job and keep my career. All the training and hours that I spent getting ready for this position are put to use.”