Why more employers are tapping an overlooked talent pool — those with criminal records
Small and large employers alike are tapping into a long-overlooked talent pool that they say is full of dedicated, loyal, hardworking staff — people with criminal records.
AT&T, Bank of America, Deloitte, JP Morgan, Mastercard and Microsoft have all created hiring programs for people with criminal records, via their membership with the Second Change Business Coalition (SCBC), which works with dozens of private-sector employers to create such programs.
Nearly 10% of JP Morgan’s new hires — roughly 3,000 people in 2023 — have previous arrest or conviction records, as a result of its program, according to the company. JPM also works with community groups to hold expungement clinics at its branches, helping guide local residents on how to clear their records so they can get hired.
The SCBC also has smaller companies as members, like Checkr, an HR platform for background checks and compliance. Earlier this year Checkr finished a year-long apprenticeship program for 10 formerly incarcerated apprentices, who received on-the-job training and mentorship to kickstart their careers. Those staff worked in IT roles, sales and HR throughout the year, and nearly all were hired at the end of their apprenticeship, said Checkr CFO Naeem Ishaq. “I think what’s in it for employers is being able to access a massive talent pool that today is largely untapped,” said Ishaq.
Some have even gone on to be hired by outside companies. “We made a very concerned decision not to perpetually fund those roles because we wanted to test whether or not we actually had enabled them to be market competitive. And so the teams that actually hired them after the one-year program did so out of their own budget, because they were the best qualified for those roles, which makes me feel really good how successful that was,” Ishaq said.
Checkr is launching an initiative to extend this program at other companies — offering $1 million to fund the salaries of two cohorts of apprenticeships at companies outside of Checkr over the next two years. “We’re hopeful that they’ll see the benefits of it and then take it upon themselves to do that at scale,” added Ishaq.
Being formerly incarcerated, or simply having a criminal record, remains a major deterrent to employment. About a quarter of Americans have criminal records, and they face unemployment rates up to 10 times higher than those who don’t, according to the SCBC.
Many states have laws restricting initial job applications from asking if candidates have a criminal record, though it can still come up later in the hiring process, like during a background check. And many people with criminal records are eligible to get them cleared, though only a handful of states have “clean slate” laws, automatically sealing records of those eligible and eliminating lengthy waits and paperwork.
Despite remaining barriers and stigma, over 80% of HR professionals report that staff with criminal records perform the same or better than those without records, and over 80% of managers say the value second chance employees bring is as high as – if not higher than – workers without records, according to a report from SHRM.
While corporate responsibility is one key driver for companies standing up such programs, Checkr’s Ishaq characterized staff graduating from the apprenticeship program as “highly motivated, high retention employees.”
Checkr plans to work with nonprofit partners, like the Last Mile and the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, as part of its program to understand how to identify and set up talent for success through proper role identification, onboarding, and ongoing support. Checkr aims to have the cohort models at other companies start in April 2025.