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Almost two-thirds of employers set to hire ex-offenders in 2023, says Sodexo study

5th of May 2023

One in three (30 per cent) UK businesses in the private sector do not currently employ any ex-offenders, despite the majority (62 per cent) saying they are struggling to fill positions. Forty-three per cent report finding it difficult to fill in excess of 10 current vacancies.

This is according to a new study commissioned by Sodexo, the food services and facilities management business which runs six UK prisons on behalf of the Ministry of Justice and Scottish Prison Service. The study sought to understand the extent to which prison-leavers and ex-offenders who have not served custodial sentences have the same employment opportunities as other job seekers.

The company recently launched its ‘Starting Fresh’ campaign to help remove the perceived barriers associated with the employment of ex-offenders, which hold back the reintegration of people into communities. The initative is a collaboration between partners New Futures Network, The Oswin Project, Clean Sheet and Novus Works.

Sodexo, which itself is a Ban the Box employer, commissioned research of 1,000 owners and senior leaders with hiring responsibilities across British businesses, finding nearly two thirds (61 per cent) will be hiring ex-offenders in 2023, while 21 per cent say they will not.

When asked about their greatest concerns, one quarter (25 per cent) agreed they were worried employees would 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.

More positively, as the UK grapples with a talent shortage, many businesses this year said they are investing in training for their HR teams to ensure ex-offenders are supported in the company (40 per cent). Almost half (46 per cent) said that supporting their wider community was important during this time, and one of the reasons why they’d be hiring people with criminal records.

Sodexo is itself committed to filling five per cent of appropriate job opportunities with ex-offenders. During 2021 and 2022, the business had 162 DBS applications return as positive, 133 (82 per cent) of these went on to gain employment. Tony Simpson, justice operations director at Sodexo UK & Ireland explained: “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.”

To help businesses with the employment of ex-offenders, Sodexo has launched the Starting Fresh online hub with resources for employers seeking to discover the underutilised community of people with criminal backgrounds and support them in the workplace, as well as case studies of what impact this has had on the companies and individuals involved.