| Ex-offenders have a variety of characteristics that limit their employment potential, including limited work experience; substance abuse challenges; convictions which affect work opportunities; insufficient education and cognitive skills; and perceptions associated with prison populations. Employers are more willing to consider hiring ex-offenders with non-violent, drug convictions over violent convictions, for low-skilled positions in specifically identified job sectors. The primary purpose for this study is to learn more about the differences between employer willingness to hire and employer hiring practice of ex-offenders with drug-related convictions in a Mid-Atlantic region. The study examined whether organizational characteristics such as industry, firm size, and amount of customer contact would impact hiring reservation. Secondly, this study evaluated whether a credible referral system the employer trusts would impact hiring ex-offenders. Lastly, this study inquired with employers on their previous hiring experiences of ex-offenders and also asked employers to rank the importance of work experience versus incarceration time, to learn how these dynamics relate to hiring reservation. Of the varying research areas, a credible referral system the employer trusts produced the most encouraging results in terms of ex-offender hiring likelihood. |
