Hiring ex-convicts is good for business and good for all of us.
November 2023
After a long day at my computer, it can be hard to tear myself away from my desk to chill out. It’s not because I’m overwhelmed with work—it’s because I love it.
I love work. It gives life structure, it gives me somewhere to go every day, and it’s the way I make a difference in this world. Whether it’s volunteer work, work earning a degree, parenting work, or a paid career—many of us work, and I love it.
But what would it be like to be an adult living in the United States who is deemed unemployable? Maybe you’ve made bad choices. Now that you’ve paid your debt to society, you’re ready to change your life. What if you’re ready, you’re willing. . . and you’re deemed unemployable?
This issue of perpetual unemployment impacts everyone in the United States: from people with criminal records to their families to companies looking for skilled individuals to other employees to the communities we live in—we all have a stake in this conversation. The 610,000 people released annually from federal and state prisons in the United States face this question head-on. Our approach to this issue profoundly impacts our society. How can we do a better job of reintegrating formerly incarcerated individuals into the workplace?
You may think this issue doesn’t affect anyone you love—you don’t know any criminals. But chances are, you do. Almost 74 million people in the United States have a criminal record. That is one in three Americans—and less than a third have found a job within the first two years after incarceration.
We, the people—the employees, the people who vote with our feet and our dollars—must demand better for our families, our friends, and our communities. We must press businesses—the companies we work for and the companies we buy from—to eliminate barriers to employment for people with criminal records.
It’s just good business, and it’s good for all of us.
My Coworker, the Criminal?
A few years ago, I got itchy feet and decided to switch jobs. I loved my old company and wanted to give them plenty of notice, so I gave 5 weeks’ notice at my old company without finding a new job first, and the clock was ticking. The goal was to leave my old job on a Friday and start a new job on the following Monday. . . somewhere. That was the plan. It wasn’t going well.
So, I was enormously relieved when I was offered a position at Goodwill Central Texas. But then I found out they were a second-chance hiring company. A criminal record was not an automatic bar to employment. I must admit—at first, I was alarmed. I knew I’d be working late, sometimes working alone in the building. Would I be safe?
But I needed the job. So, on Monday morning, I showed up.
For many of my new coworkers, this was their first job out of prison, and I saw how having a job changed lives. People were getting their first apartments, achieving high school diplomas, and earning college degrees. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2019, around 50% of Americans say that work that provides joy and meaning is the most essential part of a fulfilling life. The survey also revealed that less than a third considered a committed relationship or having children to be as crucial. That is saying something.
But some of us don’t have this path to a better life. Some of us have been locked out.
Working Toward Freedom
Susan Burton is a woman who has positively impacted thousands of lives. She’s an activist, a published author, and the founder of the nonprofit organization A New Way of Life. But in the late 1990s, she was a job seeker with a criminal record. In her 2017 book Becoming Ms. Burton, she described the frustrations of job-searching with a criminal record. “For so many years, I. . . had come up against these seemingly insurmountable barriers. But I’d done a good job of convincing myself that my failing was personal, that it was all on my shoulders. Now, a larger picture was emerging: if you got locked up, you get locked out. It didn’t matter that you’d paid your debt to society.” And she was right. A 2017 experiment documented in The American Economic Review found that “employers were 60 percent more likely to call back applicants without records.” This was despite the applicants having a criminal record of a single low-level, nonviolent felony from around two years prior.
Over and over again, we hear the same story about the struggle to gain employment post-incarceration. Business Insider quotes Gerald Alvarez about his experience in the workplace eight years after his release from incarceration: “I was rather young when my crime happened. I feel like I’ve done my time, but yet, to this day, it still haunts me. . . Everyone says, ‘Oh, if you have a felony, we’re not interested.’”
How can we expect people to become productive members of society, avoid re-offending, and stay out of jail if they can’t financially support themselves and their families?
Liberating Families
This inability to find employment has ripple effects beyond persons with criminal records. More than half of incarcerated parents are the primary financial support for their children. The arrest of the breadwinner leaves their families in dire financial straits. These economic hardships for families continue even after their loved ones are released from prison if they cannot secure employment. Some families have to make the wrenching choice between paying for food and paying for other necessities, like housing or healthcare. It is well documented that lack of food and nutrition harms children’s physical, mental, and behavioral development.
The social safety net may not be an option for unemployed breadwinners with a criminal record. Individuals with certain criminal convictions may be ineligible for some federal public benefits, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). In his book Just Mercy, activist Bryan Stevenson says, “We ban poor women and, inevitably, their children from receiving food stamps and public housing if they have prior convictions. We have created a new caste system that forces thousands of people into homelessness. . . and renders them virtually unemployable.”
But the ability to find employment can change a person’s life. One of my new colleagues at Goodwill Central Texas went from being homeless with little contact with his children to a new apartment to taking his two kids to a theme park within the first few months of his first job out of prison. When I left Goodwill Central Texas, he was talking about starting a retirement savings account. He had changed his trajectory.
Unlocking Second Chances: Ethical and Legal Considerations for Companies
Many business leaders and politicians are pushing companies to reconsider hiring practices and eliminate barriers to employment for individuals with criminal histories. President Obama said, “Let’s invest in innovative new approaches to link former prisoners with employers and help them stay on track.”
Fair hiring practices aren’t just the ethical choice; they’re the law. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) finds that criminal records can disparately impact communities of color. The EEOC warns employers that using criminal history databases to eliminate candidates can open employers up to a charge of disparate impact.
It’s not just the law; it’s good business. A 2017 article on the Society for Human Resources Management website features Arte Nathan, former chief human resources officer. Nathan has hired 490 adults with criminal histories in the last four years. “No one who was hired through the program has been fired for theft, fighting or attendance problems,” says Nathan. “I believe in hiring ex-offenders because it works for HR.”
The Key: Ensuring Workplace Safety
I’m sure that I’m not the only employee who worries about their safety when considering whether to work at a second-chance company. But does ruling out employees based on a criminal history improve workplace safety? Research indicates that declining to hire people with criminal records does not improve workplace safety. A 2018 article in The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology states that “individuals with criminal records are statistically unlikely to commit crimes while on the job. Even employees with recent criminal records are generally not terminated for disciplinary problems.” A study published in the Virginia Law Review in 2014 suggests that after a few years, “a person with a criminal record is no more likely than anyone else to have a future arrest.”
It helped me feel more comfortable that my employer was open about their hiring practices and the training provided for all new hires. In my new hire orientation, I sat next to a woman who was currently living in a halfway house. This new job would give us both health insurance, an income, and the pride of self-sufficiency. We were both the same: working to build a better life for ourselves.
Unshackled Potential for Communities
Finally, communities benefit from formerly incarcerated individuals gaining employment, as it can help reduce recidivism rates and contribute to a more inclusive society. This matters because 95% of all inmates in America will ultimately be released and return to their communities. Communities and governments must work to reintegrate these people into society. President Barack Obama said, “Communities that give our young people every shot at success; courts that are tough but fair; prisons that recognize eventually the majority will be released and so seek to prepare these returning citizens to grab that second chance—that’s where we need to build.”
Many companies already recognize the benefit to our communities in hiring people with criminal records. In an article published on the website Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), General Counsel Mark Holden at Koch said, “Hiring the formerly incarcerated is a win-win-win. Employers find excellent employees to meet the post-pandemic labor demand. Taxpayers are relieved as prison costs decline. And employers are doing a world of good for people who deserve the opportunity.”
Employing people with criminal records helps the community. When people have jobs, they spend money on food, activities, and taxes that support their local communities. This can lead to increased economic growth and development. Employing formerly incarcerated individuals can reduce recidivism rates, benefit communities economically, and promote a more inclusive society.
Conclusion:
Bryan Stevenson, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, said it so well in his book Just Mercy: “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.”
I hope with all my heart that is true. Work has helped me through some of the worst days of my life, sometimes just by giving me something else to think about. It’s given me purpose and stability. It’s given me pride and a paycheck.
I love work. It’s changed my life. To all my fellow workers out there, let’s push our employers to ensure everyone has a chance to work toward a better future. It’s good for business. It’s good for all of us.
Sarah Olson 