Working It Out
Looking for workers in all the wrong places? Try this.
As the average age of the nation's population rises, the
number of skilled laborers will fall, making it progressively more
difficult for employers to find qualified workers. One
often-overlooked resource is release programs sponsored by local
courts, which allow nonviolent inmates to work outside prisons
during weekdays.
Institutions such as the Mecklenburg County Work Release and
Restitution Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, can serve as de
facto employment agencies, uniting businesses with qualified
inmates. Burgess Sales and Supply Inc., a Charlotte-based
distributor of commercial wood and metal doors, hired a
work-release inmate who had experience as a delivery driver.
"We consider him a valuable employee," says Julie
Broughton, Burgess' operations coordinator. "One of the
main reasons we participate in the program is to help citizens who
have been less fortunate. Most of them have families, and without
the security of having a job while they're incarcerated, their
families would have to get public assistance."
Hiring an inmate raises some human resources issues, though. One
day, Broughton's work-release employee failed to report for
work because he had been involved in a conflict and "locked
down" as punishment. Still, Broughton was pleased with his
work and hired him as a full-time employee when he was released
from prison. "We made a great decision," says Broughton.
"We'd do it again, but we haven't yet found another
qualified employee. We're just waiting for the right
person."
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