The deputy head of Rostrud explained why former prisoners are in no hurry to find employment

Only 15 thousand out of 200 thousand released apply for employment per year.

Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Labor and Employment Yan Talbatsky said at a hearing in the Federation Council that about 15 thousand people released from prison turn to them a year (this is extremely small when the total number of people released is 200 thousand). We manage to arrange about 5 thousand of them.

Talbatsky explained the difficulties in finding employment for the following reasons: candidates do not have a specialty, employers do not want to hire people with a criminal record. Meanwhile, in regions where the employment rate of former prisoners is higher, recidivism is lower (by 5% on average).

A representative of the Federal Penitentiary Service spoke about successful projects when the regions begin to think in advance about the future work of the convict. In particular, a project has been launched that helps former prisoners learn a profession in the IT field for free and find a job. At the first stage, 100 grants will be allocated for training in IT professions in the amount of 12 million rubles. Former convicts will be able to study in 12 specialties, including: web developer, SMM specialist, Java developer, web analyst and others. To train each specialty, basic computer skills will be enough; otherwise, the professions can be mastered from scratch; grant recipients will not need any specialized knowledge. The project is already being implemented in test mode in Lipetsk women’s colony No. 7. A class was organized in the colony library, a secure Internet connection was established, and a class schedule was developed. Participants in the experiment could communicate with each other in chat rooms, and complex issues were resolved through a hotline with the organizers.

Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation Vsevolod Vukolov stated that after the probation law comes into force (from January 1, 2024), a person, while still in prison, will enter into an employment contract with the employer. That is, at the time of release from prison, he will know where he will work and what salary he will have.

According to the Russian Ministry of Justice, the probation service will require about 50 thousand employees with skills in the field of social services and psychology. Big problems can arise with this, since there is already a shortage of qualified psychologists in Russia. In order to work in the probation department, you will need to have a higher legal education.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29130 dated October 6, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Go to work with a clear conscience