Business opportunity and ethical concerns are lining up to change hiring
practices and policies to give those with criminal records a second
chance. By
Will Maddox
| September 11, 2023
....
Research shows that 70 to 100 million Americans have a criminal
record, around one in three working-age adults. Sixty percent of them
are unemployed a year after leaving prison. This group is underutilized
and bypassed for the millions of jobs that remain open across all
industries, but the winds are shifting.
Justice-impacted individuals face several challenges to reentering
the workforce and staying out of trouble. These barriers, imposed by
legislation, law enforcement, employers, and society, make it more
likely that they’ll run afoul of the law again. But several businesses
are taking the bold step to be the leading edge of the movement to put
this group of people to work.
The Responsible Business Initiative for Justice compiled data to show
that justice-impacted individuals compare well to the average employee.
A survey of human resource professionals and managers found that 83
percent rated the job performance of justice-impacted individuals to be
as good or better than the average worker, and about three-fourths found
that justice-impacted workers are as or more dependable than the
average employee. Seventy percent said job retention was also better for
justice-impacted individuals.....
This potential labor force faces many barriers, experts say. First,
employers must be willing to take a chance on justice-impacted
applicants. Second, those individuals need access to various services to
help them get up to speed and become stable and ready to enter the
workforce. And lastly, policies need to be updated to help people
transition. Success will require progress in all three areas....