When is it appropriate to ask for spousal hire? I got a tenure-track academic offer in the US.
However, I recently found out that in the US there is this concept of spousal hire, that I can use. I saw several questions related to this but no one is addressing what it is and how it is appropriate to negotiate a spousal hire. The spouse would work in a non-academic job.
Based on the current covid situation and economic crisis, are universities in need of people from the IT management and programming sector? How does a non-academic hire and a non-academic job in the IT field at a university in the US look like in the Tier 2 group?
When is it appropriate to ask?  In negotiation, you can ask for anything that's legal at any time.  Spousal hires are, as far as I know, always legal in the US.  In some countries it is not legal, oddly.
It used to be that an accomplished academic could demand a spousal hire as a condition of employment.  Don't try that now.  US universities laid of 650,000 people this year.  Most universities don't have the ability to meet any demands at all.  Under current conditions, your negotiation leverage is extremely limited, so I suggest you ask for something you are more likely to get, like a small pay increase.
Do universities need IT managers?  They probably do.  Many universities will pay their managers less than the private sector, resulting in a shortage of managers.  Since, as an IT manager, your spouse can work remotely, it might be smarter to look for work outside the university.