Second Chances

According to one banker, the cure for the labor shortage is to hire people with criminal records

- JEFFREY KORZENIK

“WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH BANKING?”

That’s a question I get all the time.

It’s not often that bankers spend much time speaking and writing about prisons, policing and judicial sentencing, but I do.

My formal job description revolves around guiding the allocation investments that my bank manages on behalf of individuals and institutions. Since you can’t understand how to invest unless you understand the economy, my team spends a lot of time researching economic trends and sharing those insights with our customers. You can’t understand the economy without following the labor markets, and that’s where the discussion must include the impact of the justice system on our workforce.

Social ills have taken a terrible toll on our workforce, and chief among them, the vicious cycle of incarceration and recidivism that has deprived us of the talents of millions of potential workers. The magnitude of these societal problems has made them true economic challenges.