We know from data from the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) that employers believe in second chances and make careful, thoughtful decisions in hiring ex-offenders. We applaud businesses to take the necessary steps to hire ex-offenders.
The SHRM data backs up nationally a survey we recently discovered in locally from Idaho. In 2005 the Idaho Department of Commerce & Labor, in Partnership with Idaho State Police and Idaho Department of Corrections, surveyed Idaho employers “to measure how receptive Idaho employers are to hiring ex-offenders”. The Idaho “[s]urvey results indicate a high disposition on the part of Idaho employers to hire ex-offenders.”
The survey focused in on several trades and professions and the willingness of employers in these areas to hire ex-offenders. In the building and construction trades, for example, between 74% and 88% of businesses would hire ex-offenders for jobs like welding, commercial trucking, and electrical wiring. These are “good” paying jobs according to the survey. And for public-facing jobs, 86% of employers in accommodation and food service would hire ex-offenders and 72% of retail employers.
Enhancing Employment Opportunities for Ex-Offenders: A Survey of Idaho Employers by Idaho Commerce & Labor in Partnership with Idaho State Police and Idaho Department of Corrections, Idaho Commerce & Labor, 2006, available at https://labor.idaho.gov/publications/Employment_Oppor_ExOffenders.pdf.