In this episode of Work in Progress, I’m joined by Dane Linn, senior vice president of corporate initiatives for the Business Roundtable, to discuss second chance hiring and how opening the door to people who are justice-impacted is good for the individual, society, and the economy.

More inclusive hiring is a powerful way to break the cycle of poverty for many Americans. When people are given a fair opportunity to participate in the workforce, our economy and society are stronger.

For the 70 million people in this country who have been touched by the justice system, having a criminal record often makes it harder for them to find employment. For some, a conviction, and even a brush with the law without a conviction, can become the equivalent of a life sentence when it comes to trying to reenter the workforce.

“We’re talking about more people than those who’ve been in jail. Some of these individuals have a minor offense and that minor offense has crippled their ability to seek any employment opportunity,” says Linn.

The Second Chance Business Coalition – an initiative of the Business Roundtable – is committed to second chance hiring, expanding opportunities to jobs, careers, and greater upward mobility for this population.

There are more than 2.3 million people currently behind bars in the U.S. Once released, more than two-thirds of these individuals will likely end up as repeat offenders because they can’t find jobs once released.

Barring individuals who are justice-impacted from the workforce means they have a greater risk of ending up in poverty. It also decreases the amount of federal, state, and local taxes being added to the economy.

“The cost to the U.S. economy, between $78 and $87 billion, is not insignificant. But let’s make no mistake about it, this Second Chance Business Coalition is not just a charitable endeavor. This is a business imperative, important for companies to meet the [talent] supply problem they have.

“It’s important to provide individuals with an equal opportunity to work in corporate America and advance in corporate America. And it’s important to ensure our ability as a country to maintain our economic competitiveness and in some cases not depend or not have individuals depend on public assistance in some cases for which they don’t want to depend on.

“They want to be contributing members to society just as much as anyone else and giving them an opportunity to work in corporate America is one way to do that.”

JPMorgan Chase and Eaton were among the founding members of the Coalition which now totals 52 large companies.

“We’ve all been given second chances. When you talk about it that way with employers – ‘You may not have a criminal record, but at some point along the way you’ve been given a second chance’ – there’s interest in hiring individuals with records.

“We illuminate or illustrate that idea by bringing in individuals to [our] convenings who have actually have a criminal record and hear about the struggles they’ve had, but also that an employer took a chance on them and gave them an opportunity to have a job and what that meant to them and the contributions they’ve made.”

Linn says in addition to making the case for impact of second chance hiring, they provide employers with the tools and resources so they can effectively implement second chance hiring within their own companies.

He says this approach is making a difference.

“Eighty percent of the companies who participate in the coalition now review individual candidates individually without hard stops on certain conviction types and 60% partner or contract with reentry or other organizations to administer the hiring or the support programs for employees with criminal backgrounds.

“I think that’s pretty impressive for four years.”

In our conversation, Linn and I go into details on how companies are implementing second chance hiring and the impact itis having for people who are justice-impacted.

Learn more in the podcast, which you can listen to here or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find our podcasts on the Work in Progress YouTube channel.

Episode 362 Dane Linn, Senior Vice President, Corporate Initiatives, Business Roundtable
Host & Executive Producer: Ramona Schindelheim, Editor-in-Chief, WorkingNation
Producer: Larry Buhl
Theme Music: Composed by Lee Rosevere and licensed under CC by 4
Transcript: Download the transcript for this episode here
Work in Progress Podcast: Catch up on previous episodes here