The Waiting Workforce
Millions of Americans with criminal records face barriers to meaningful employment. This ‘waiting workforce’ presents a missed economic opportunity. Learn more about how common sense legislation could help reduce barriers to employment.
BRG – JPMC – Waiting Workforce – Transcript
[emotional music]
Woman With Long Braided Hair and Brown Eyes:
I was a 19-year-old kid, I had never been in trouble before.
Woman With Long Brown Hair and Green Eyes:
18 years old, just smoking weed in the dorms.
Man With Slicked-Back Dark Hair and Hazel Eyes:
Now I had a permanent record, and I had to deal with that.
Man With Short Black Hair and Brown Eyes:
I couldn’t vote, I couldn’t be a taxi cab driver…
Woman With Long Braided Hair and Brown Eyes:
You don’t get housing opportunities…
Bald Man With A Thick Salt-and-Pepper Beard:
Me trying to get jobs...
Side note:
He heaves a heavy sigh.
Bald Man With A Thick Salt-and-Pepper Beard:
...It followed me.
Man With Slicked-Back Dark Hair and Hazel Eyes:
I began to go through this expungement process, every step costs money, every step takes time.
Woman With Straight Blonde Hair and Brown Eyes:
It can cost upwards of $10,000 per case.
Man With Short Black Hair and Brown Eyes:
Do I have the means to do it? Do I need an attorney?
Man With Blue Eyes and A Goatee:
And all you are is paperwork.
Man With Slicked-Back Dark Hair and Hazel Eyes:
When I actually walked up to this piece and I see all these people, faceless and nameless… I look at that sculpture and I say “that is me.” I feel like one of these people who’s constantly waiting.
Man With Short Black Hair and Brown Eyes:
I’m like, those are people burdened by mountains of documents, mountains of paper.
Woman With Long Brown Hair and Green Eyes:
For me, Clean Slate legislation would mean a new lease on life…
Woman With Straight Blonde Hair and Brown Eyes:
Educational opportunities, employment opportunities, housing opportunities… It would be life changing.
Man With Slicked-Back Dark Hair and Hazel Eyes:
It touches you very deeply to understand that there is maybe a light at the end of the tunnel.
Woman With Long Braided Hair and Brown Eyes:
Yeah, my second chance, it’s definitely coming.
Bald Man With A Thick Salt-and-Pepper Beard:
Might have done some wrong. Doesn’t mean that you can’t change and do some right.
END
Clearing past records with expungement clinics
Arrest or conviction records remain a barrier to housing and employment, even for people whose records are eligible for clearing. We are expanding our pilot expungement clinics to help people start with clean slates.
[melancholic music]
Talia Irabagon
Expungement and sealing is when someone who has a criminal record, tries to achieve relief from their criminal record, and that can really enable someone who's looking for opportunities that are otherwise denied to them.
Nan Gibson:
What we want is as many people as possible on a career pathway, so that they have the opportunity for higher wages and income.
Narrator:
At JPMorganChase, we see the power of Second Chance Hiring. Learn more at jpmorganchase.com/SecondChance.
END
Second Chance and employment opportunities
Clean Slate legislation helps to clear records which can help increase individual earnings by 20%. Policy reform and inclusive hiring practices can help more people access meaningful careers.
[melancholic music]
Nan Gibson:
One in three Americans has either an arrest or a conviction record. It obviously has an impact on the ability of individuals to get jobs, to get housing, to get an education. By some estimates, the cost to the economy of people with records being held back from that opportunity is roughly $70 to $80 billion annually. Second Chance Hiring will reduce recidivism and create more economic opportunity and growth in our communities.
Narrator:
At JPMorganChase, we see the power of Second Chance Hiring. Learn more at jpmorganchase.com/SecondChance.
END
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