Businesses Set To Hire More People With Criminal Records

According to reports, small and large businesses across the U.S. will be recruiting more employees with criminal records. 

The recent move comes after a labor shortage has made it extremely difficult for pharmacies, banks, and large corporations to hire staff. As a result, businesses are looking beyond usual traditional hiring routes to give people from all backgrounds the opportunity to work. 

As Black people are disproportionally impacted every day by an unfair criminal judicial system, the move corporations will not only open the door for more diverse hires but also remove anti-discriminatory workplace practices. 

Union Pacific Corp is one of a few companies that have announced their plan to start hiring people who have been incarcerated later this year. The railroad company has struggled with worker shortages for some time and believes this will be the best solution.

 “We’re really trying to think about the whole person, what really happened, what have they done to rehabilitate and learn new skills,” said Beth Whited, Unicorn Pacific Corp’s executive vice president. 

According to Whited, the company has been recruiting train and electrical workers. Through transitional organizations for ex-prison members, they have been able to process over a hundred people through the application process. 

An arrest record can be highly damaging to anyone’s record, limiting their employment prospects and stopping them from seamlessly transitioning back into society. 

The decision to embrace second-chance hiring will change the way prisoners can transition into society. Still, it will also prove to be a highly beneficial solution to managing workplace staff shortages.