Professional body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) say that taking on ex-offenders is the answer to unfilled vacancies.
The labour market remains tight with record levels of low unemployment and high demand for skills and experience; ex-offenders offer a new pool of potential talent but say the CIPD the government needs to do more to ensure that programmes to assist ex-offenders to return to work are tailored towards the needs of employers.
A large proportion of the working population have some kind of criminal conviction says the CIPD report Employers and offenders.
As many as one in three adult men under the age of 30 have convictions but the majority are for minor offences. Two-thirds of criminals sentenced to custodial sentences serve less than 12 months, out of a potential working life of fifty or more years. While 20% of the working age population; 7.3 million people are on the Home Office Offenders Index.
While this pool of potential recruits exists over 85% of employers report difficulties recruiting suitably skilled and experienced people to fill vacancies.
CIPD’s Dianah Worman said: “Employers no longer have the luxury of being able to label every ex-offender ‘a bad ‘un’, not to be recruited at any cost. With 20% of the adult population having received some form of criminal conviction, and high levels of employment making it difficult for employers to recruit, employers who won’t consider ex-offenders when trying to fill vacancies may find themselves losing out in the war for talent.
“Our research shows that only 6% of employers who have knowingly employed people with convictions have had a negative experience. Although concerns do remain, the low level of negative experiences should act to reassure employers considering employing an ex-offender.”
The report recommends that tailored training programmes be developed together with higher level skills training in areas of significant skills shortage. Acknowledging employers’ concerns should also be addressed and training offered to allow employers to carry out relevant criminal records checks, say the body.
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