Businesses Benefit From Work Ethic & Commitment From Ex Offenders

New research from the IT asset disposal company DSA Connect, which runs programmes to support prisoners in developing new work skills and to find employment, reveals that almost two-thirds (65%) employers who have hired ex-offenders rate them as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ employees and overall the hiring process was much easier and less challenging than they thought it would be.

The survey, carried out amongst over 1,100 businesses with a combined turnover of £15.9 billion, reveals that almost a fifth (18%) of ex-offenders are rated as ‘excellent’ by their employer and almost half (47%) are rated as ‘good’. A further 28% are rated as ‘average’. Only 3% of employers rate ex-offenders they have hired as ‘below average’ and just 1% as ‘poor.’

As well as finding strong employees, employers also found the whole recruitment process for ex-offenders to be much easier and less challenging compared to their pre-conceptions of this. Almost six in ten (57%) say the recruitment process was much easier than they thought it would be, with a quarter (24%) saying it was significantly easier and less challenging than they expected. A third (32%) said it was as they expected and only 7% said it was harder and more challenging than they anticipated.

Hiring an ex-offender worked so well for many of the businesses surveyed that nine in ten (92%) said they would do so again. Almost a third (31%) of employers who have hired an ex-offender in the past say they now have an active recruitment policy for ex-offenders. Only 3% of employers who have previously hired an ex-offender said they wouldn’t do so again.

The top benefit given by employers who have previously hired ex-offenders is finding someone with the right skills and experience for the job (47%) followed by a strong work ethic and commitment shown by the ex-offender (35%). Around a quarter (23%) said hiring ex-offenders has turned out to be a reliable recruitment method that works for their business, and 15% say they’ve been able to highlight this recruitment as an ESG benefit to customers and investors.

Almost half (44%) of all employers who have previously hired ex-offenders say there is also the added benefit of witnessing the ex-offender getting their life back on track and achieving things that they didn’t think they could do.

Harry Benham, Chairman at DSA Connect said, “Our research shows that hiring ex-offenders is a very valuable – and all too often overlooked – recruitment policy for businesses. The majority of employers who have employed an ex-offender highly rate their work ethic and commitment to the job and would hire them again in the future."

“As well as helping that individual to get their life back on track, businesses can often find people with the right skills and experiences that they’re looking for – or even train them in a specific area of expertise. At DSA Connect, the ex-offenders that we employ do a fantastic job for us and our clients."

“It is a fact that, if a person leaving prison has employment, they are far less likely to re-offend and re-offending (according to government statistics) costs the country around £18 billion per year!”

DSA Connect has partnered with Xerox (the digital printing solutions giant) to open workshops at HMP Highpoint and HMP The Mount. These workshops focus on dismantling, auditing and component recovery, where prisoners gain experience in a growing sector while also contributing to a more sustainable circular economy.

At HMP Chelmsford, DSA Connect operates an IT recycling and component recovery workshop, where end of life IT equipment is ethically processed, for many organisations, including NHS Shared Business Services.

Throughout its prison workshops, DSA Connect provides accredited training programmes for prisoners in the release window, as an integral part of their Pathway to Employment scheme, which they operate with OCS. This initiative is also actively supported by IBM, together with certain other large organisations, providing a range of expertise and support.

The company also collaborates with initiatives like Only a Pavement Away, a charity set up to support prison leavers and help them to find work in the hospitality sector.