Last Saturday, Harley Blakeman, the CEO & Founder of Honest Jobs, and Scott Simon from NPR discussed how hiring justice-involved job seekers could solve the U.S. labor shortage. There are stigmas and biases against people with criminal backgrounds, and many face significant employment barriers. However, more and more employers are open to hire them. Redefining hiring policies to include people with conviction records not only changes lives but also helps struggling businesses open a pipeline to millions of loyal, qualified candidates.
"Almost 9% of Americans have a felony conviction. Some of the population have those unique challenges. But the vast majority of people with felony convictions in America are not recently released. So, many of these Americans - five, ten years after they've paid their debt to society - are still held under the stigma that they're not ready for employment just because they failed the background check. And the truth is, they are your neighbors. They are in our society. Their kids are at the same playground your kids are at. And we should give them that chance to prove that they can be a valuable employee." - Harley Blakeman
Listen to the whole interview on NPR's website: n.pr/3iXPWaf
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