To fill job openings, Union Pacific offers a second chance to people who need one

By Julie Sneider, Senior Associate Editor 

Union Pacific Railroad is working with social service agencies in several U.S. cities to meet and potentially hire job applicants who’ve served time in prison. 

Established in fall 2021, the railroad’s “second-chance” hiring program launched as a pilot in Houston and has since expanded to Chicago and Los Angeles. The Class I plans to expand it to other locations, including Minneapolis/St. Paul and Omaha, Nebraska, home of UP’s headquarters.  

UP is part of a national trend of major employers adopting second-chance hiring programs due to the nation’s tight labor market. The Class I is one of 43 members — and the only railroad — to join the Second Chance Business Coalition (SCBC), a cross-sector group of large private businesses committed to expanding second-chance hiring and advancement practices at their companies.  

About a quarter of the U.S. population has a criminal record, according to SCBC. Research also shows that about nine in 10 employers require job applicants to undergo a background check, and having a criminal record reduces the chance of a second interview by 50%. The unemployment rate of the formerly incarcerated is 27%; unemployment and/or poverty increases the chance that such people will re-offend.  

Union Pacific is one of 43 members — and the only railroad — to join the Second Chance Business Coalition, a cross-sector group of large private businesses committed to expanding second-chance hiring and advancement practices at their companies. Moab Republic / Shutterstock.com

However, employers that have made second-chance hiring part of their talent strategy have been rewarded, according to the SHRM Foundation. 

“Eighty-one percent of business leaders and 85% of human resource professionals believe workers with criminal records perform their jobs about the same or better than workers without criminal records,” according to the foundation's 2021 Getting Talent Back to Work Report. 

Earlier this year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also called on employers to consider second-chance hiring, noting that employment directly correlates with lower rates of recidivism, or when someone convicted of a crime re-offends.  

Although business organizations have suggested second-chance hiring should be a strategy for filling the job gap, UP Executive Vice President of Sustainability and Strategy Beth Whited says the program is also part of the railroad’s social justice initiative. 

“Yes, to us, it’s a population that’s untapped, but it's also a population that’s somewhat disadvantaged and has been overlooked,” Whited says. “So, it’s a great way to connect our need to hire with our desire to make improvements in the communities where we live and work.” 

Whited and UP officials began preparing for the program in spring 2021, starting with a six-month review and adjustment of hiring policies and procedures to ensure they were inclusive toward people with criminal backgrounds. The railroad consulted with other businesses that have established such programs and partnered with community agencies that provide job-search and other transitional services to people re-entering life after prison. 

“Many people coming out of incarceration may need more wrap-around social services than what we can provide — things like counseling, housing or access to ongoing career counseling. That’s not our forte, so we needed to find community programs to partner with,” she explains. 

In each city, UP’s human resource representatives meet with those agencies to discuss the types of jobs the company is looking to fill and the skills and abilities it needs in new hires. The partner agencies pre-screen and refer potential job candidates to UP for consideration. The second-chance candidates must pass the same batteries of tests and physical requirements any other job candidate must pass, according to Whited.  

“The one thing that probably is a bit different with this population is that we do spend time getting to know and understand the candidate — what is the context of why they were incarcerated, and what work they’ve done to recover from whatever got them incarcerated,” she says. 

“One of the things we’ve learned through this work is that second-chance hires tend to have low turnover rates and tend to be extremely grateful to the company. So, if we can find the right people for the right jobs, we can have success for both sides." — Beth Whited, Union Pacific's EVP of sustainability and strategy Union Pacific Railroad

UP hiring policies continue to follow federal regulations that govern employment of individuals with a history of crimes, including those related to alcohol, drug and other substance abuse. Also, the company has a committee that reviews second-chance candidates before job offers are extended. 

“It’s possible there may be folks that we would never hire,” says Whited. “But we are trying to be as open to considering people as we can be, with our guiding principle being that we have to have a safe working environment for our employees and for our company.” 

As of late August, the company had hired about 12 employees through the program, with another dozen offers made and a dozen more applications in progress.  

“It’s not a giant program, but we have picked up speed as we’ve added locations,” Whited says, adding that second-chance hiring will be underway in five to 10 more sites befor00e the00 end of the year. 

So far, the company is hiring or considering second-chance applicants primarily in three key areas: transportation service, or conductors and engineers; maintenance of way; and maintenance of equipment. Such jobs represent about two-thirds of UP’s workforce of 32,000 people, according to Whited. 

Some prisons offer good training in welding, plumbing and electrical work — all skill areas that are in demand for maintenance and repair of locomotives, rail cars and other rail equipment.  

“It’s those kinds of crafts jobs where we’re really seeing the most applications,” she says. 

As UP broadens the program to other locations, Whited hopes other businesses in those cities will join the second-chance hiring effort. In Texas, for example, UP is trying to organize a coalition of employers that are doing second-chance hiring, which would help maintain a stream of job opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals as the economy ebbs and flows.  

“One of the things we’ve learned through this work is that second-chance hires tend to have low turnover rates and tend to be extremely grateful to the company,” she says. “So, if we can find the right people for the right jobs, we can have success for both sides. That’s part of the reason we’re so excited about it. It’s really good for our [company] culture and really good for the community.”