Stigma of Criminal Record Fades as U.S. Employers Get Desperate

[DonViejo]

Source: Bloomberg


by Steve Matthews

May 30, 2017, 12:00 AM EDT

Shea Rochester, who once spent a month in jail on an assault charge that was later dropped, is now wanted in a different way.

After a few months of job hunting, the 32-year-old recently got two offers in the same week. He accepted a $14.48-an-hour position at a Georgia factory that makes shortening and cooking oil.

As U.S. unemployment falls to the lowest level in a decade, driving it beneath what Federal Reserve officials consider is the lowest sustainable rate, people with blemishes on their resumes are getting second looks by employers trying to fill vacancies that currently stand at a near-record 5.7 million.

The stigma of criminal records, as well as erosion of job skills during incarceration, reduced employment of ex-offenders by as many as 1.9 million in 2014, the Center for Economic and Policy Research estimates. While the government doesn’t track jobs for those with arrest records, people are increasingly getting hired, according to economists, companies and government officials interviewed for this article.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-30/stigma-of-criminal-record-fades-as-u-s-employers-get-desperate

[ck4829]

1. If ex-convicts are back in society and rehabilitated, then nobody should have a problem with this

[NobodyHere]

10. Sounds good in theory

But ask anyone if they want a convicted rapist who did 5 years in prison working next to them.

If the person did their time then I don't mind myself but I'm probably in the minority.

[nycbos]

2. Even the Koch brothers support "banning the box."

[IronLionZion]

3. Better stop them from voting though

especially if they have that distinct Democratic look to them and live in the south or Florida.

I think it's great that they are getting a second chance at a normal life. If people are blocked out from jobs, they turn to other options.

[Sanity Claws]

4. His arrest without conviction should never have even come up in his history

Employers should be prohibited from asking about arrests. Here in NYC, a lot of minority youth were arrested on stop and frisk and garbage allegations of resisting arrest. These policies targeted minority youth and makes it harder for them to get hired, so long as employers ask about arrests without convictions.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. THIS

We still have that "Stop and Frisk" policy in place in Philly and it can't end soon enough.

[Adrahil]

8. Disagree to some extent....

In my line of work, most positions require a security clearance. Arrests can prevent a security clearance, depending on the circumstances.

It's a waste of everybody's time and money to hire someone who can't get a clearance.

[thearchive]

6. So someone not convicted of a crime can get a job at a rendering factory?? What a country

This is quite possibly the worst job available.

If you've been arrested but not convicted then just lie on your reports.

You can always amend it at a later date like almost everyone in the Trump administration has done.

[tazkcmo]

7. 5.7 million job vacancies

The one mentioned in the article seems to pay a decent wage. I say "seems" because I know little about the job duties or the cost of living in the area. I wonder how much these jobs pay because it makes no sense to bust your butt for 40 plus hours and still qualify and need government assistance or worse need it but not qualify.

Conservatives believe the simple act of being employed is a magical act that suddenly lifts people out of poverty even when the job pays less than a living wage.

[Adrahil]

9. We have a hard time finding skilled machinists...

at least one who can consistently pass drug tests....

[SFnomad]

11. Yeah, but aren't the right wingnuts telling us that 94 million people are unemployed?

Can't they find any good people in that 94 million? Surely, there has to be a few good octogenarians, they can't all be slackers.