Nearly two thirds of employers in the East of England set to hire ex-offenders to fill staff shortages

Almost two thirds of businesses in the East of England are open to employing ex-offenders this year, according to private prison operator Sodexo, which runs HMP Peterborough.

It comes as just under half (49 per cent) of businesses based in the East of England say they are struggling to fill in excess of 10 job vacancies in their organisation, which is higher than the UK average of 43 per cent.

Now, 59 per cent of business leaders expect to hire ex-offenders in the coming year, with half agreeing that they could be of benefit to their businesses – such as by helping farmers to fill shortages of food pickers, and working as delivery drivers.

It’s according to a new study commissioned by Sodexo – whose Sodexo Justice Services arm runs six UK prisons on behalf of the Ministry of Justice and Scottish Prison Service, including HMP Peterborough.

The study sought to understand the extent to which people leaving prisons and ex-offenders who have not served custodial sentences have the same employment opportunities as other job seekers.

The company launched its new ‘Starting Fresh’ campaign today (March 7), in which it is partnering with other companies and organisations in an attempt to remove the perceived barriers associated with the employment of ex-offenders, which can hold back the reintegration of people into communities.

The study asked 1,000 owners and senior leaders across British businesses.

When asked about their greatest concerns, one quarter (25 per cent) agreed they were worried employees could re-offend, and the same proportion agreed they feared for the safety of the rest of their workforce (25 per cent).

More than one in five (23 per cent) agreed that they wouldn’t trust them to behave appropriately at work.

According to the UK government, the proportion of prison-leavers who were employed at six months from their release between April 2021 and March 2022 was just 23 per cent.

Tony Simpson, justice operations director at Sodexo, said: “While not all ex-offenders are prison-leavers, an important aspect of this campaign is to help employers understand the quality of learning which takes place in prison. Nearly 50,000 people leave prison every year, many emerging with formal qualifications they didn’t have before.

“Prisoners at the sites we manage are prepared to be job-ready for the opportunities in the outside world.

“It can be a win-win situation because there is a huge skills shortage in many UK sectors, and we believe ex-offenders could absolutely help to plug some of these gaps, while providing a more stable and secure income, and a better future, for the individual.

"It’s positive to see the majority of businesses suggesting that they will employ from this largely untapped talent pool in 2023.

"Starting Fresh is not just about helping employers understand the valued contribution ex-offenders can make to their business, but to also encourage them to proactively engage with our prisons and our partners to start the hiring process with prison-leavers.

"We have more to do, and we want to start new conversations about how we share our experience and learn from others as part of this campaign.”