Two new resources use data to inform employers about jobseekers with criminal records and lay out the benefits of tapping into this underutilized talent pool.

Alliance member Cornbread Hustle’s Second-Chance Hiring Report makes a compelling case for second-chance hiring as a solution to the ongoing labor shortage, and highlights the company's success making direct hire and temp-to-hire placements with some 50 employers in its Dallas area market.

The report outlines multiple factors fueling the steady decline in workforce participation and contributing to the ongoing labor shortage. Next, it provides data about the reentry population, discusses the direct link between stable, meaningful employment and lower recidivism, and addresses employers’ concerns about second-chance hiring.

Finally, it presents an analysis of Cornbread Hustle’s 2,500 hires since 2016, laying out the demographics, criminal backgrounds and employment outcomes of this workforce. One interesting trend is the discovery that “employees with violent crime backgrounds are five times more likely to convert to permanent status than those with either nonviolent charges or no criminal history as well.”

The report concludes with a brief description of Cornbread Hustle’s client industries and the company’s process to recruit, screen and support both workers and clients.

The RAND Corporation has also published a new research brief, Resetting the Record: The Facts on Hiring People with Criminal Histories. This piece similarly offers evidence alternative staffing enterprises and other workforce intermediaries can use to dispel misperceptions about people with criminal records and help employers make informed decisions about hiring them.

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