Finding a Second Chance in the Workforce

Companies looking for workers have increasingly turned to a large and often overlooked part of the population — people with non-violent criminal histories. People in this group have historically had trouble finding employment despite including — by some estimates — a third of American adults. Fortunately, attitudes toward people with non-violent histories are changing. Employers are more willing to give people in this group opportunities and some states are even prohibiting questions about criminal history from popping up during the hiring process.

Kelly President and CEO Peter Quigley recently joined LinkedIn News Editor Andrew Seaman to talk about a program at his staffing company that aims to get people with criminal histories back into the workforce. The two talked on the latest episode of Get Hired with Andrew Seaman about the program, the results and what people with non-violent records can do to find work.

You can hear their conversation on the latest episode of Get Hired with Andrew Seaman on Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen .

TRANSCRIPT: Finding a Second Chance in the Workforce

Andrew: From LinkedIn news, this is Get Hired, a podcast for the ups and downs of our professional lives. I'm Andrew Seaman, LinkedIn's Managing Editor for Jobs and Career Development. Each week on Get Hired, we talk about leveling up. Sometimes we talk about finding work. Other times we talk about excelling where you are right now. And through it all, we focus on how to stay true to yourself in the process. A group of job seekers that we don't often talk about is people with criminal records. And it's a larger percentage of the workforce than you might think. In fact, depending on your definition, one in three Americans has a criminal history, and that 33% of American workers often face barriers to employment, both because of an interruption in work experience, and because of the immense bias employers have against people who have committed crimes. However, there's a growing movement to support these workers. One program that helps place formerly incarcerated individuals is at Kelly Services, the international staffing agency. Their program called Kelly 33 helps place second chance workers in good jobs, and it works with potential employers to support folks' transition back to work. Peter Quigley, Kelly's President and CEO, joined me recently on Get Hired Live to share what Kelly has learned through its program, and to give advice to job seekers with a non-violent criminal record. We started off by talking about Kelly's larger Equity at Work mission. Here's Peter.

Peter: Basically, Equity at Work is an extension of our noble purpose, but it's based on the position or perspective that too many people can't find access to meaningful work because of barriers that exist in our system. It could be somebody with a criminal record. It could be somebody on the autism spectrum, a veteran, an opportunity youth that grew up in poverty. And still today, too many companies have barriers like automatic disqualification for somebody that has a blemish on their criminal record, outdated drug screening policies, requiring a four year degree when credentials or an experience would be adequate, or overly complicated and complex interviewing and onboarding processes. So, we established equity at work, to shed a spotlight on these barriers.

Andrew: Yeah, and I really want to focus on Kelly 33. Can you start out by telling us actually what that 33 symbolizes?

Peter: Yeah, I wish I could take credit for it. 33 represents the 33% of working age adults who have some blemish on their criminal record. Now that's 78 million people. I'm quite confident that we all know somebody, whether it's a family member, or a neighbor, or a friend, or a colleague, that is one of those 78 million, and Kelly 33 is designed to create opportunities for individuals that are in that group. 95% of them, by the way, are nonviolent. And yet 9 out of 10 employers require a background screen, which reduces the likelihood of a second interview by 50% for this population.

Andrew: Yeah. You partnered with Toyota, and this is something that you've been doing for years. Can you tell us what Toyota experienced by engaging in the second chance opportunity?

Peter: Yeah, I'd love to Andrew. Thank you. And Toyota deserves huge credit. They were an early adopter of second chance hiring. They did it for business reasons, as well as because they believed it was the right thing to do. But at their assembly plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, they realized they weren't getting enough talent flow. They did an analysis with us. We realized that we were winnowing out a lot of candidates because of their very strict background screen requirement, so we revisited those. We overhauled them, updated them, and we ran a pilot. There were 1200 applicants, 92% we deemed to be eligible to move on for consideration for employment at Toyota. And more than half ultimately found employment at Toyota. And what we learned is that these workers are loyal. They're dependable. They show up, they stay in their jobs, and the numbers bear that out. By running this pilot, Toyota increased its talent funnel by 20%, it reduced its turnover by an amazing 70%. And it increased its diversity by 10%. And importantly, Andrew, not a single one of those individuals that we placed at Toyota was terminated for an infraction related to their criminal record. And that's not just at Toyota. The national data support this, as well. The Society of Human Resource Management did a survey, and 85% of HR managers, and 80% of operating managers, say second chance workers are as productive, or more productive, and more dependable, than their counterparts.

Andrew: Definitely. And you know, I've had the opportunity, fortunately, to talk to a lot of people that work on programs to help people who are even sometimes still incarcerated. And what they find is that those people who are given maybe a job once they exit prison, or exit probation, or something like that, the recidivism rates, or the number of people who go back into the criminal justice system, are so incredibly low. Really it's not just beneficial for, like you said, the employers, really, the research shows that it's beneficial for society, really.

Peter: Yeah. I think we can all agree that a job is good for an individual. It's good for their family, and it's good for the community, to say nothing of the economy. We're part of a coalition called the Second Chance Business Coalition, and these are not small employers. This is Walmart, and CVS, and General Motors, and Microsoft, and JP Morgan Chase, and the Eaton Corporation. I'm really encouraged that we've got some momentum behind this very important initiative.

Andrew: We're going to take a quick break. When we get back, Peter shares his advice for people with a nonviolent criminal record to get back into the workforce.

Andrew: We're back with Peter Quigley, who's President and CEO of staffing agency, Kelly. The company's Kelly 33 second chances program helps place people with non-violent criminal records into good jobs. Kelly is part of a larger movement here. In fact, there are laws in many states to quote “ban the box.” That is, to eliminate that little check box on a job application asking applicants about their criminal records. Even just that little step can give a huge leg up to people looking for work. Since he's worked with, and helped place, so many people in this position, I wanted to ask Peter for his advice to job seekers who maybe have a non-violent criminal history, but want to put themselves in a position to get opportunities from employers. Here's Peter.

Peter: I can only say, to start, that there are employers out there that are willing to engage with second chance job seekers. That's the good news. It can be done. We've seen it. Don't be discouraged. I think being transparent is really important. Having documentation, being able to explain what the charge was, what the situation was, what the outcome is, where you are now, is really important to helping the employer find a path to employment. And then working with companies that have committed to working with second chance job seekers, it's secondchancebusinesscoalition.com. You can find information about those employers who are more likely to work with individuals that are in that situation.

Andrew: If you were talking to employees, or maybe other CEOs, what's your advice to them to maybe get their leadership to change their minds and say, "Listen, we're missing a ton of talent here.” What is your suggestion for advocating from within?

Peter: Well, I think it starts with starting a conversation, right? Having somebody who cares about this as an issue, whether it's second chance job seekers, or also challenging things like job salary history and gaps in resume, or a four year degree. These are all things, that's where it starts. Being transparent about, this is an issue. And then bring the facts because the facts reveal, unquestionably, that the benefits of working with second chance job seekers, it's overwhelming. And I think educating senior leaders about the benefits of it, and recognizing again in this time of great resignation, people want to work for companies that they feel are doing good. It's not just about making money or making a cool product, and whether it's second chance hiring or another practice that breaks down barriers to finding work, I have found here at Kelly, but also working with many of our customers that employees, and candidates, react really well when companies get behind something as well-intentioned and well-purposed, as what we're talking about today.

Andrew: When Kelly matches someone with an employer, does Kelly continue to support them through that first year? What is the process like working with Kelly, and then an employer at the other side?

Peter: Yeah, it really depends on the employer, and that the work environment. Using the example of Kelly Discover where we're trying to place adults on the autism scale, or youth who have not been exposed to a work environment, we try to create a wraparound environment for a period of time, might be six months, might be a year, where we support them. We support their managers so they understand the unique nature of the worker, but we support our employees as much as we can, not only through their job assignment, but through their career. We like to talk about developing a relationship for life. And because there may be a time where you leave the workforce and you don't need Kelly, but there may be a time when now you're coming back into the workforce, and establishing that relationship. And we're invested in individual's career's. It's a relationship for life.

Andrew: Definitely. And before we go, I would love to ask because you have your finger on the pulse of really the entire labor market. What is your advice for people who are job searching right now?

Peter: Well, I think understanding what you're looking for in a job, this is a great environment for job seekers, and there probably isn't a better time to calibrate what you're looking for. And what kind of workforce do you want to be part of? What kind of workplace do you want to work at? What's your work style? When do you want to work? All of those things create optionality for job seekers that I think is unprecedented. And so I would make sure to take the time to work on what you are looking for, and then explore options that you have, try before you buy, work in a temporary role at a company, see if you like it, and then apply for a permanent job. But there's lots of options for workers these days, which is really exciting.

Andrew: Yeah. And I definitely want to underline what you said, is “know what you want,” because I think a lot of people go into it sort of with idea of a buffet, a little bit of this, a little of that, but it's good to go in and say, "Oh, I want that," because then you go right to the front of the line.

Peter: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Andrew: Well, thank you so much, Peter.

Peter: Thank you, Andrew.

Andrew: That was Peter Quigley, President and CEO of Kelly. For more information on their programs for second chance workers, check out kelly33.com. Remember, it's up to you to put our advice into practice. Still, you always have a community backing you up and cheering you on. Connect with me, and the Get Hired community on LinkedIn, to continue the conversation. You can also join my weekly Get Hired Live show every Friday on the LinkedIn News page. And if you liked this episode, leave us a rating on Apple podcast. It helps people like you find the show, and of course we'll continue this conversation next week, right here, wherever you like to listen. Get Hired is a production of LinkedIn News. The show is produced by Michele O'Brien with the help of Gianna Prudente, Derek Carl, Elias Avalos and Taisha Henry. Joe DiGiorgi mixed our show. Florencia Iriondo is Head of Original Audio & Video. Dave Pond is Head of News Production. Dan Roth is the Editor in chief of LinkedIn, and I'm Andrew Seaman. Until next time stay well, and best of luck.