"One of us spent decades as a correctional warden, responsible for staffing safe facilities and trying to send people home better prepared for work and community than when they arrived. The other served decades in the federal prison system on a 213-year sentence stemming from a series of armed robberies committed in his early 20s, and is now an executive at Social Purpose Corrections, working with employers and correctional leaders on workforce development and reentry outcomes."
"Many employers are systematically excluding some of the most loyal workers available. Millions of capable job seekers are screened out automatically because they have a criminal record. At the same time, companies insist they cannot find dependable employees. Both of those things cannot be true. We come to this issue from opposite sides of the same system, and now we sit on the same side of the table."
Employers across the country report loyalty is harder to find, turnover feels constant, training costs keep rising, and teams feel less stable. Millions of capable job seekers with criminal records are screened out automatically by hiring systems, and doors close before conversations begin. Inside prison, many individuals consistently completed demanding work, education, and training while demonstrating discipline and loyalty. That demonstrated talent is available but blocked after release by checkbox-based exclusions and automated screening. Systematic exclusion of people with records reduces the workforce available to employers and contributes to perceived labor shortages.
Read at Fortune
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