Jamie Dimon and Other Big Business Leaders Form Coalition to Help Former Convicts Get Hired

Jamie Dimon and Other Big Business Leaders Form Coalition to Help Former Convicts Get Hired

Jamie Dimon also wants people to get back to work at the office.

Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase, wants to help people who have been convicted of felonies and spent time in prison find new jobs. To that end he has established the Second Chance Business Coalition (SCBC). Meanwhile he wants his firm to have everybody get back to working from the office again after the Covid crisis, reports Bloomberg.

The new group will be co-chaired by Dimon and the Chairman & CEO of Eaton, Craig Arnold. SCBC was formed by a group of major employers and national organizations to expand hiring and advancement practices for people with criminal records within their companies. The founders explain that one in three Americans has an arrest or conviction record that can significantly impact their ability to get a job.
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They point to research which shows that individuals with a conviction history often experience significant collateral consequences as a result, including barriers to employment and a lack of opportunities to advance professionally. For example, a criminal record alone can reduce the chances of a second interview by 50 percent. With labor markets tight and employers struggling to find qualified candidates for open positions, second chance employment programs give companies access to new sources of untapped talent. A Society for Human Resource Management study found that 82 percent of managers feel that the “quality of hire” for workers with criminal records is as high as or higher than that for workers without records.

In a statement Jamie Dimon said that, “Business has an important role to play in making it easier for people with criminal backgrounds to get back on their feet.” Dimon, who also serves as Chair of the Business Roundtable Racial Equity and Justice, Subcommittee on Finance, added, “At JPMorgan Chase, last year, we hired 2,100 people with criminal backgrounds. Providing a second chance will give people dignity and allow them to provide for their families, and it helps companies like ours expand the number of people we hire to ensure we get the best talent.”

SCBC C0-Chars Jamie Dimon and Craig Arnold (Promo Video Clip)

SCBC promotes the benefits of second chance employment and provides major employers with a set of tools, relationships and expertise to allow them to successfully hire and provide career advancement and greater economic opportunities to people with criminal records. Companies that have already joined the SCBC include Accenture, AT&T, Bank of America, Best Buy, Cisco, CVS Health, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Eaton, Gap Inc., General Motors, The Home Depot, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Koch Industries, Kroger, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Prudential Financial, Inc., Schnitzer Steel Industries, Target, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Union Pacific, Verizon Communications, Visa, Vistra Corp., Walgreens Boots Alliance and Walmart.
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The Second Chance Business Coalition is dedicated to promoting the benefits of second chance hiring. The SCBC provides employers with resources to hire and provide career advancement to people with criminal records. Learn more: https://t.co/ZQj3KZv7EK

— Second Chance Business Coalition (@SecondChanceBiz) April 26, 2021

The Coalition will help employers tap into a talent pool that includes the nearly 70 million Americans, or one in three adults, who have a criminal record, by developing best practices and enabling companies to share approaches and experiences, learn from subject-matter experts and deploy tools to improve second chance recruitment, retention, manager training, performance and satisfaction.

It will also launch pilot initiatives to test new approaches to second chance hiring and advancement practices. This effort will include partnerships with community service organizations and providers and will use metrics to guide decision-making.

Hopefully if and when these people get new jobs they will be able to work in an actual office and not need to engage in remote working now that more and more people are getting the Coronavirus vaccination. JPMorgan Chase & Co. became the first major U.S. bank to mandate a return to offices for its entire U.S. workforce, after a year of Covid lockdowns. The firm hopes to have everybody back at the office within two months. According to Bloomberg, a memo sent to staffers on Tuesday co-signed by Dimon said that the firm, “would fully expect that by early July, all U.S.-based employees will be in the office on a consistent rotational schedule.”

Read more about: Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase, Second Chance Business Coalition