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Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

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Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#181

Post by xenadu02 »

jjnoakes wrote: post #167
w8rbt wrote: post #143

State and federal governments do not get as much tax revenue either because these people are not earning at their full potential. So basically, it hurts everyone involved as well as society as a whole.

Is that true? I don't know much about macroeconomics but it seems to me that even though these folks aren't earning at their full potential, the jobs are being done by someone. In other words, if these folks were earning more, someone else wouldn't be doing that job, so the overall earning that the set number of jobs would support wouldn't change one way or the other from the tax revenue point of view. (Not advocatin…

Economics isn't a zero-sum game. People with better jobs spend more money to buy more products, including a lot of the products startups would very much like to sell. An ex-con working minimum wage isn't ordering Muchery, using Instacart, or taking Lyft rides. An ex-con working in frontend development very well might use those services.

This generates economic activity across the entire chain, enriching everyone along the way. All of these people end up paying more taxes. Collectively the increase in activity can cause retailers, suppliers, and manufacturers to hire to keep up with demand further feeding the cycle.

IIRC the research shows ex-cons are far less likely to re-offend in the future if they land a good job. How many kids looking forward to $130k/yr jobs would choose to join a gang instead?

There's also the deadweight loss of criminal prosecution and jailing offenders. It generates a few legal and prison guard jobs but most of the taxes spent in the criminal justice system don't contribute constructively to society the same way building new bridges, subway systems, or funding science research does.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#182

Post by xenadu02 »

dayve wrote: post #156
RBBronson123 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are so right on all your comments. Soon we'll be re-doing the entire site. Perhaps we can talk in several weeks?

In line with that, I think you could also put up a blog section for testimonials, in the near future. IMHO, People need to read stories of how 70million Jobs has helped successful candidates, as that will build confidence in the system.

I'd also get testimonials from employers too: "70MillionJobs helped us XYZ"

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#183

Post by nkoren »

jjnoakes wrote: post #167
w8rbt wrote: post #143

State and federal governments do not get as much tax revenue either because these people are not earning at their full potential. So basically, it hurts everyone involved as well as society as a whole.

Is that true? I don't know much about macroeconomics but it seems to me that even though these folks aren't earning at their full potential, the jobs are being done by someone. In other words, if these folks were earning more, someone else wouldn't be doing that job, so the overall earning that the set number of jobs would support wouldn't change one way or the other from the tax revenue point of view. (Not advocatin…

This is not how economics works. Here's a good place to start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lump_of_labour_fallacy

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#184

Post by pm90 »

w8rbt wrote: post #143

State and federal governments do not get as much tax revenue either because these people are not earning at their full potential. So basically, it hurts everyone involved as well as society as a whole.

So I have mixed feelings about this situation. On the one hand, if the sentences were for drug possession, yes, I think its really shitty to incarcerate people for that. But if their felony was due to burglary or something more serious/violent, I do think they deserve the punishment.

I also agree that once the sentence has been served, people should not be punished any further, except where the occupation requires a clean record. e.g. I would be OK with pharmacies requiring no arrest for drugs etc. as a condition for employment, or drivers without DWI convictions etc.

I guess my point is: its not a purely economic decision. Sure you're losing tax revenue, but that's because you're:

1) Protecting society from a person who has demonstrates some lack of understanding/acceptance of its rules.

2) Cause significant discomfort/pain to the perpetrator of the crime so that they realize the consequences of breaking the law and hopefully never do it again.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#185

Post by banned1 »

brightball wrote: post #12

A friend of mine finally had his record cleared of incidents from when he was 19-20. He took courses to learn to program but even now it's still hard for him to get a job because people want to know about the huge gap in his employment history from when nobody would hire him.

"Incidents"?

You mean his crimes? No need to abstract reality.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#186

Post by xenadu02 »

lbhnact wrote: post #26

Just want to add support. One of my childhood friends has a felony from when he was an overly-rambunctious teenager that he still gets punished for - including being kicked off AirBnB - for something he stole more than 20 years ago. Despite this, he's a very successful leader in mental health services management. So many people deserve a chance to redeem themselves from being 'branded', yet are denied the exact oppor…

Unfortunately some states (eg: Texas) don't allow you to expunge a felony no matter how long ago it was. My sister-in-law's HS boyfriend was a criminal jerk and she got caught up and charged as an accessory for something stupid (theft IIRC). She fully admits she was rebelling by going after a bad-boy. She had a public defender who met with her once and told her to take the deal to get probation. Unfortunately the plea was for a felony.

It's been 20 years, she's married to a good guy and has a baby... yet that black mark still comes up on her record.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#187

Post by banned1 »

angersock wrote: post #29

This is really cool, and I hope that your platform takes off! The SMS integration for texting is also a nice touch. :) One thing I wonder about is if folks in our industry would be more willing to have an felon of some variety working with them than somebody who's been tarred with the racist/sexist/conservative label?

Same question I had! Likely answer is YES (at least on HN boards and opinions to drive appearances, maybe not hiring for real).

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#188

Post by Mz »

brightball wrote: post #12

A friend of mine finally had his record cleared of incidents from when he was 19-20. He took courses to learn to program but even now it's still hard for him to get a job because people want to know about the huge gap in his employment history from when nobody would hire him.

"Personal crisis."

I was a homemaker for a lot of years. I also happened to be too sick to hold down a job during that time, but homemaker sounds so much better on a resume.

Find a preferably true and accurate description that is palatable to employers. Then realize it is tough all over at the moment. LOTS of people are having trouble getting hired at all.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#189

Post by pm90 »

justadeveloper2 wrote: post #141
lbhnact wrote: post #26

Just want to add support. One of my childhood friends has a felony from when he was an overly-rambunctious teenager that he still gets punished for - including being kicked off AirBnB - for something he stole more than 20 years ago. Despite this, he's a very successful leader in mental health services management. So many people deserve a chance to redeem themselves from being 'branded', yet are denied the exact oppor…

As someone who broke a whole lot of laws in his late teens and got off pretty easy for all of it, I wholeheartedly agree. They could have thrown the book at me but they didn't. Also, it helps if you don't confess to anything and hire a good attorney even if you end up taking a plea. Let's face it, America sucks in a ton of ways and the biggest crooks are bankers and people in finance--they stole billions and got away…

While I agree there are bigger crooks who go unpunished, the solution is not to let the smaller crooks go free, but to also catch the bigger ones. BTW just to be clear, I'm not advocating harsher punishment, just equal punishment.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#190

Post by xenadu02 »

justin66 wrote: post #147

This presents an interesting dilemma here for an ex-con. Most people can eventually get their records expunged after they're out for a while, at which point we as a society demand that they start responding "no" to the questions about having a criminal record during the interview process. It's dishonest but it's how the legal system works. If you're an ex-con who will eventually get his record expunged, is there any…

Remember that many states do not allow expunging records no matter how old (eg: Texas). For some people a conviction will follow them literally for the rest of their lives.
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