A few days ago, I asked my Facebook friends (the ones who are responsible for hiring people) if they would hire someone who is considered employment challenged (an ex-offender, recovering addict, or someone who is homeless). I didn’t get too many responses, but the ones I did get interested me.
Another response that interested me was someone who said that they would hire someone who was employment challenged, for a very specific reason: “I work in the mental health field and my job specifically caters to ex-offenders, recovering folk etc. Our clients would rather speak to someone who has been through it. It all really depends on their work ethic and what the job description is.” I found it interesting that people who are employment challenged, would rather be the client of someone like them. Perhaps the reason behind this is for inspiration, or because they don’t want to be judged. But the reason this really interested me is because it made me think that in a way, they are building and providing jobs for each other with this demand. If the business knows that their clientele prefers people who are like them, they will hire people like them, providing more jobs and opportunities for their community. For this company, I thought it was interesting that they didn’t determine that person’s position based on their background, but more on their ability to do the job, and making the decision to count their past experience as a positive instead of a negative.
Are you an employer? Would you hire someone who is employment challenged for your company?