Open hiring means getting a job despite having criminal record


No skills tests, no background checks, just a life-saving job at a bakery

When former drug dealer Dion Drew got out of prison, no one would hire him. Then he learned about a bakery that didn’t do background checks, didn’t test skills, didn’t require references. As much as Greyston’s “open hiring” practice helped Drew, it’s also making a difference to the bottom line, says CEO Mike Brady.

//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js


This piece was produced by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Philly.com and WHYY/NewsWorks for The Reentry Project, a citywide collaborative news initiative. It is part of an occasional series — across the city and across platforms — on the challenges facing people returning from prison and what can be done about them.

The Philadelphia InquirerPhilly Daily NewsPhilly Dotcom