Where Do Second Chances Start? Sometimes in a Warehouse. Sometimes in a Pharmacy.
Not everyone gets a straight shot in life. But everyone deserves a second one.
Across America, veterans return home looking to translate military service into meaningful careers. Formerly incarcerated people want to work, rebuild their lives, and support their families. And millions of Americans without college degrees are simply looking for a path to upward mobility.
For these groups, opportunity often comes from an unexpected place: large companies.
Forget the ivory tower stereotype. Today, some of the biggest employers in the country are creating on-ramps for people who’ve been locked out of the labor market — through training, support, and full-time jobs with real benefits.
This isn’t about diversity, equity and inclusion hiring. This is about giving some of our nation’s most vulnerable a second chance to put in an honest day of work and support their families. In short, these companies are changing lives at scale.
The Problem: Too Many Are Locked Out
Every year, more than 600,000 people leave prison, only to face stigma and sky-high unemployment. Veterans face their own challenges, with nearly 200,000 transitioning out of service each year — many without clear pathways into the civilian workforce. And while college degrees dominate job listings, nearly two-thirds of American adults don’t have one.
Small businesses are often willing (but not always able) to solve this problem. Legal risk, compliance hurdles, and limited HR infrastructure make it hard to build structured hiring pipelines for nontraditional workers.
That’s where scale comes in.
What Big Companies Are Doing
Veteran and Military Spouse Hiring
Walmart’s “Find-a-Future” program has hired more than 400,000 veterans and military spouses since 2013, offering training, relocation support, and upward mobility.
Home Depot’s Path to Pro initiative helps veterans enter the skilled trades, offering pre-apprenticeship programs, tool stipends, and connections to employers.
These programs don’t just offer a thank-you — they offer a career path with stability and purpose.
Upskilling and No-Degree Pathways
Amazon’s Career Choice program prepays tuition for hourly employees pursuing certificates or college degrees in high-demand fields like healthcare, IT, and trucking. The program has reached over 130,000 employees globally.
Google, IBM, and Accenture now offer no-degree tech certifications that lead directly to jobs, often in partnership with Fortune 500 employers.
These companies are building ladders that don’t require four years and student debt, just ambition and a foot in the door.
Fair Chance Hiring and Reentry Support
CVS Health has invested in Workforce Initiatives that provide job training and mentorship for untraditional workers, whether that’s folks with disabilities, people reentering the workforce after incarceration, or those who’ve been recruited into their “Talent is Ageless” program. In partnership with community organizations, CVS operates mock pharmacies to train candidates on-site.
Koch Industries and JPMorgan Chase are leading advocates for “second chance hiring,” both employing thousands with records and lobbying for broader criminal justice reform.
These programs recognize that a past mistake shouldn’t equal a lifetime sentence in the job market.
Why Scale Matters
Large companies have what many smaller employers lack:
✅ The legal teams to navigate compliance
✅ The budgets to fund robust training
✅ The national footprint to provide relocation and career mobility
They also set the tone. When a Fortune 500 company rolls out a new program, suppliers, competitors, and regional employers often follow. That ripple effect is powerful.
It’s Not Big vs. Small — It’s Big and Local
None of this diminishes the role of small businesses. Local shops, trades, and mom-and-pops are often the first to give someone a shot, especially in tight-knit communities.
But if we want second chances to be the norm, we need the infrastructure, consistency, and momentum that large employers can deliver nationwide.
This isn’t about picking sides. It’s about building a system where anyone, anywhere, can get back on their feet.
Second Chances Require Infrastructure
Every American deserves the dignity of work, even if their path hasn’t been perfect. And the companies helping them get there aren’t just supporting individuals. They’re strengthening families. They’re stabilizing communities. They’re growing the economy in a way that’s more inclusive, more sustainable, and more patriotic than any press release.
You don’t need a degree, a spotless résumé, or an inside connection. Sometimes, you just need one person willing to give you a shot.
At AGIF, we believe in growth that includes everyone. And we believe that scale, when paired with compassion and strategy, can lift more people up than it holds back.
Let’s celebrate the companies building second chances into their business models — and ensure the next great American story starts with a job offer.