Hiring the formerly incarcerated: a business case and call to action

Executive overview

56% of US companies refuse to hire people with criminal records, cutting off access to 70 million potential workers. Leaders who hire from this pool consistently report equal or superior performance — with lower turnover — compared to the general workforce.

Formerly incarcerated workers are often more loyal and motivated than standard hires, because for them the job is a second chance, not just a job.

Shelley Winner's story: from prison to tech

• Grew up with an incarcerated, addicted father — no positive role models or path to college
• Became an addict and drug dealer, following what she calls the loser's loop: the generational cycle of incarceration and dysfunction
• Arrested while pregnant; that moment became the turning point — she enrolled in a faith-based treatment program while fighting her case
• Received a four-year sentence; with good time and drug treatment credit, served roughly 18 months
• Used prison time to complete rehabilitative programs: drug treatment, anger management, public speaking, forgiveness courses

The reentry wall: why getting out is harder than being in

• Reentry is the hardest part — not incarceration itself
• Immediate barriers: no ID, no Social Security card, no clear place to start
• Even with ID, most employers won't hire people with records — forcing them back to illegal income
• Unemployment rate for the formerly incarcerated runs 25–30% in the first few years after release
• Many can't afford to fight discriminatory rejections; fighting requires time and stability most don't have

The job search and the Fair Chance ordinance

• Shelley joined Code Tenderloin, a job-readiness and coding program connecting justice-involved people with Bay Area tech companies
• The program: resume writing, mock interviews, tech company field trips, and direct hiring relationships
• She applied for a tech role, disclosed her record upfront, received an offer — then had it revoked after the background check
• Discovered San Francisco's Fair Chance Ordinance: employers cannot reject applicants solely on a criminal record unless the offense directly relates to the job, and cannot reject those who've demonstrated rehabilitation
• Appealed through the ordinance; the company eventually had to repost the role — she reapplied and won the position
• Took three months; she could fight only because her halfway house covered basic living costs

The business case for fair-chance hiring

• SHRM data: 82% of managers rate workers with criminal records as similar or better in value compared to those without
• Total Wine & More study: employees with records had 12% lower first-year turnover than those without
• 70 million Americans have a criminal record; 95% of those incarcerated will eventually be released
• Prison provides time for self-reflection and access to rehabilitative programming — building character and grit
• Formerly incarcerated workers treat the opportunity as life-changing, not just employment — that mindset drives performance

The spotlight pressure on justice-involved employees

• Society expects formerly incarcerated people to fail; that expectation creates real workplace scrutiny
• Shelley felt watched for the first 6–8 months; she performed well because she was genuinely excited to be there
• As she moved into senior roles, a co-worker warned: one poor performance reflects on all formerly incarcerated people
• Her approach: focus on one day at a time, build the new skill set incrementally, refuse to catastrophise the future

What leaders and organizations can do

• Be the internal advocate — raise the question with HR or management: "What are we doing for people re-entering society?"
• Use existing data to address fear: share the SHRM report, relevant TED Talks, or publicly available statistics
• Look at companies already running hiring initiatives: Slack, Dave's Killer Bread, Total Wine & More
• The ask is not charity — it's access to an underutilized talent pool that outperforms expectations