Potential employers would be encouraged to hire the long-term unemployed if a tax credit was available through the existing Work Opportunity Tax Credit Act, like they get for hiring ex-prisoners, veterans, aid recipients, and disadvantaged youth.
Why is this important?
Currently, job seekers are invariably being required during the hiring process to explain why they have been unemployed so long. As a result, that sends them into a cycle of not getting hired, lengthening their already long-term unemployment, and making them less desirable hire candidates by subsequent potential employers. This subtle form of discrimination needs to be stopped. A tax credit for potential employers would seem to be an answer.
