The US employers are hiring more prisoners, ex-convicts and former drug addicts to fill in the labour gap, easing the recruitment standards, especially when the country's manufacturing and construction industries are booming, Financial Times reported.

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The demand for workers has seen a peak in Elkhart, Indiana, which is the unofficial capital of the US recreational vehicle manufacturing industry, that the local makers and suppliers are in the process of hiring not only ex-offenders but also felons serving sentences, the report said.

Human resources experts told the paper that some companies have begun to waive drug tests while many are willing to skip or delay the criminal background checks.

Some US states, in order to fill in the labour gap, have also passed so-called “ban the box” laws that force the recruiters and or the employers to delay the criminal background checks until later, the report said.

First Published:Jul 4, 2018 8:13 AM IST