One of the Big Four firms, KPMG, has become the first white-collar British business to employ former prisoners as part of the government’s new pilot programme.
The Big Four firm has employed its first cohort of prison leavers in a range of different roles, including technology development.
Its part of a campaign by the Government urging the UK’s biggest businesses to recruit prison leavers as part of in order to reduce reoffending as well as growing the economy.
According to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the vision is that this campaign will help fill some of the estimated 1m vacancies in the UK job market and it’ll also “keep former offenders on the straight and narrow”.
The MoJ said the aim of this campaign was to tackle the £18bn annual cost of reoffending and to cut crime.
KPMG is now working with the MoJ to encourage other big-name businesses to follow suit. The firm’s chief executive, Jon Holt, stated that its longstanding focus on social mobility is about giving everyone, regardless of their background, the chance to succeed. Holt noted: “I believe reformed prison leavers should be no exception.”
He explained that as well as creating permanent job opportunities, KPMG’s New Futures pilot would build on its existing support through mentoring and skills workshops and its Redemption Roasters coffee shop in its head office. “We want to play our part in helping prison leavers turn their lives around,” he added.
The press statement on this announcement quoted an unnamed former prisoner at KPMG. They stated that “it was rejection after rejection; businesses never looked beyond my criminal record.”
“To get a job at KPMG – it’s a miracle. It put me on the right path. I could have gone down a totally different path, but now I’m putting the past behind me and have a bright future,” they added.
Commenting on the campaign, Prisons and Probation Minister Ed Argar MP: said: “Our drive to get ex-offenders into employment is not only cutting crime and reoffending, but is also growing the economy as part of our long-term plan for growth, which is why we’ve partnered with KPMG UK to encourage other businesses to follow suit.”
“We’re helping prisoners kick-start law abiding lives, which makes our streets safer and provides businesses with the staff they need to boost the British economy,” Argar added.