{"id":38995,"date":"2025-09-23T16:47:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T16:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/38995\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T16:47:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T16:47:10","slug":"some-formerly-incarcerated-workers-feel-hiring-slowdown-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/38995\/","title":{"rendered":"Some formerly incarcerated workers feel hiring slowdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a long summer of job hunting, Johntay Neal arrived at the restaurant ready to make a good impression.<\/p>\n

Instead, the manager he was supposed to see suddenly said she was too busy for an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like she just didn\u2019t even see me,\u201d Neal said last week. \u201cWhy even make me come all the way here to ignore me and treat me like that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Minnesota\u2019s job market outperformed the national economy in August, but people on the margins of the state\u2019s workforce and the organizations that support them say they are feeling signs of slowdown as employers become more cautious and selective about hiring.<\/p>\n

Neal, who recently served 32 months in prison for a weapons offense, finally got the break he needed last month when he was hired by Better Futures Minnesota, a Minneapolis nonprofit that offers training and jobs to recently incarcerated men.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jason Allen, director of enterprise services and waste diversion at Better Futures, gives a tour of the non-profit organization\u2019s warehouse on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. Credit: Ellen Schmidt\/MinnPost\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

Better Futures Minnesota seeks to disrupt the cycle of incarceration, release, unemployment and recidivism, said Jason Allen, director of the program, adding that some participants come with an incredible work ethic driven by a desire to turn their lives around.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got a guy who has spent 12 years or more of his life behind bars,\u201d Allen said. \u201cAt some point, he decides, \u2018I\u2019ve lost enough. I\u2019ve missed my kids\u2019 birthdays. I\u2019ve missed graduations. I\u2019m not losing anymore more.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That work ethic isn\u2019t always enough, especially in a slowing economy. Minnesota added 5,900 jobs in August, but its unemployment rate increased a tenth of a percent from the previous month to 3.6%. Meanwhile, the state\u2019s manufacturing sector \u2014 an important one for Better Futures\u2019 clients \u2014 saw a slight decrease of 900 jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since it was established in 2007, Better Futures has never turned people away, but it recently had to create a waitlist, and the number of people on it continues to grow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: Kingsmen Project helping the previously incarcerated from reoffending<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHowever tough you think the job market is, it\u2019s much harder for these men,\u201d Allen said, noting that some who were previously placed in jobs have returned seeking services again.<\/p>\n

Goodwill Easter Seals, another nonprofit offering employment-related services, has also noticed a growing demand for its services. The nonprofit\u2019s employer partners have told it they are seeing more applicants at a time when many firms are trying to cut their workforce or keep it stable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of layoffs have increased pretty significantly,\u201d said Jim Durdle, director of employment for Goodwill-Easter Seals. \u201cIt\u2019s not the same labor market as it was a year ago, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of Better Futures\u2019 participants are Black, an additional disadvantage when it comes to finding a job. The unemployment rate for Black workers is almost always the highest of any racial group and was 7.5% in August, roughly double the white unemployment of 3.7%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a post-prison program where he earned $3 an hour working for the Department of Corrections, Neal knew he needed a job. Of course there was the income, but he also wanted to show his two children, especially his eldest daughter, that he was ready to be a dependable, normal father.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy 12-year-old, she doesn\u2019t miss anything,\u201d Neal said. \u201cSo she knew I was back, but I had to show her I would be there like I wasn\u2019t able to before \u2026 I couldn\u2019t do that without having a regular job. So every rejection was even more stressful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As employers become more discriminating about when and who they hire, those reentering society from prison are left to compete head-to-head for limited opportunities against others with high school and college degrees, professional experience and no criminal record.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of employers say that they are felon friendly, but you\u2019ve got to have a friendly felony,\u201d said Allen. Companies are more likely to hire someone with too many DUIs than someone with weapons or violent offenses committed many years ago, he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Employees clean up the loading dock at Better Futures on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. The nonprofit organization helps formerly incarcerated people gain job experience by offering them no-cost training in the construction and manufacturing industry and transition assistance. Credit: Ellen Schmidt\/MinnPost\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

Allen also said that since employers can\u2019t ask specific questions about an applicant\u2019s criminal background during an interview, they often will extend an offer and begin on-boarding the new employee, while at the same time doing a deeper background check.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur men get excited, because they got a new job,\u201d Allen said. \u201cThey go to the new employer, go through their orientation, they\u2019re given uniforms. Then HR comes back with that deeper dive and they say, \u2018Oh, sorry, we can\u2019t keep you on.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a challenge for most of our men that the average person does not have to experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Better Futures Minnesota aims to get its participants into jobs that pay $16 an hour or more by teaching them skills that may have atrophied in prison, like time management and professional communication, which are learned on the job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A typical day at its training center begins with everyone huddling up beneath two large screens that show each individual\u2019s on-time percentage, absenteeism rate, and other metrics that a traditional employer would look at to determine a person\u2019s value as a worker.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of the roughly 30 names on the screen, most have a 100% on-time rate, with the rest at about 85%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After reviewing the metrics, participants are given assignments: Some go to a job site where they will help demolish a home and salvage reusable materials. Others will work at Better Futures\u2019 reuse warehouse. Even broken appliances are disassembled so that working parts can be recycled or sold. Functional dishwashers, stoves and laundry machines are neatly arrayed on one side of an aisle, while on the other side are a number of deep boxes, each filled almost to the top with a specific part. An entire wall of the warehouse is covered in planks of hardwood flooring of various sizes. For older homes that might need a part of the floor patched, this is a gold mine, said Allen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t go to Home Depot or Menard\u2019s and find 100-year-old hardwood flooring that\u2019s going to match the aesthetic of your home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Related: Incarcerated artists featured in powerful exhibit, \u2018Seen\u2019 at the Weisman<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to being an environmentally friendly business, the revenue helps fund the participants\u2019 $17-an-hour wages and certification programs. When these costs are combined with the other services, the total is roughly $77,000 per year per participant, said Allen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Johntay Neal, left, and Raphael Smith take a break during their shift at Better Futures on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. Neal has been in the program for about a month, while Smith has been working with the nonprofit organization for a year after four years in prison. Credit: Ellen Schmidt\/MinnPost\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

For Neal, landing at Better Futures has provided him with the stability he needs while he continues searching for longer-term employment. For now, his goal is to earn his Commercial Driver\u2019s License and become a truck driver. But longer term, his dream job is to become a fully certified, or master, electrician.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned a lot about how to deal with customers and co-workers,\u201d Neal said. \u201cI know that at some point, I\u2019ve got to find my own job, now that I have some recent work experience and some certifications. Hopefully by then there are more jobs out there than there were this summer, but who knows.\u201d<\/p>\n

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