Dive Brief:

• A new social media job platform hopes to help launch new careers for those who have been incarcerated, The Mercury News reports. Founded by Richard Bronson, who served two years in prison for securities fraud in the 2000s, 70 Million Jobs hopes to match employers with ex-cons seeking a second chance.
• Bronson, who was tied to the brokerage firm of “Wolf of Wall Street” fame, faced hardships and discrimination after serving out his sentence. Ex-convicts face serious obstacles to employment once returning to the outside world, but Bronson told The Mercury News those with criminal records make excellent employees because they understand the meaning of hard work. 
• Founded in 2017, the San Francisco-based website was recently accepted into startup accelerator Y Combinator, according to the report, and users have applied for nearly 4,000 jobs. Bronson said he's seeking a deal with ride hailing service Uber to help the company fill driver positions.

Dive Insight:

With all the skill shortages in the job market, companies can and should look to the huge population of job seekers who have served their time for non-violent crimes and are ready for career opportunities. Each week, U.S. prisons release 10,000 individuals from state and federal prisons.

70 Million Jobs takes an active approach to helping ex-convicts return to the workforce, utilizing the type of platform that would normally be associated with companies like LinkedIn. Many ex-convicts have earned high school diplomas and college degrees, as well as extensive trade and career training and counseling while behind bars, and they are ready for new opportunities.

Note also the importance of adhering to local ban-the-box laws, particularly as state governments take opposing sides on the issue. Indiana recently became the first state to explicitly bar local ban-the-box ordinances.