The Benefits of Employing Homeless People

23 Jan 2023

There are many businesses that employ homeless people in the UK and one of the best-known is Social Bite, a social enterprise café chain that started in Scotland and now employs a great many homeless people across its UK branches. Social Bite’s model has shown that it is possible to take a chance on homeless people, give them a job and help them to upskill themselves for further gainful employment in the future.

There are many reasons to employ homeless people and one of the largest is a sense of social responsibility and care for others. Most households in the UK are just two or three pay-cheques from homelessness and this is something that a great many people fail to realise.

There seems to be this ingrained belief that people who end up homeless have “done” something that has seen them end up there, but most of the time it has been nothing more than a cruel twist of fate. A relationship breaking down, or PTSD after serving in the armed forces often sees people end up on the streets through no fault of their own.

The Benefits of Employing Homeless People

Employing homeless people will present unique challenges for your business and these can include issues of basic hygiene because of their housing situation. If your business has shower facilities and clothes washing facilities, please consider offering them the use of these for free, in order that they can more easily acclimatise to the job and blend in with other employees.

Promoting Inclusivity

Employing people who are homeless is an excellent way to support inclusivity in the workplace. It is important to remember that not all people who are homeless fit the traditional image of a rough sleeper. Many are in temporary housing or are couch surfing with friends rather than sleeping on the streets. They are still considered to be homeless until they are successfully housed in a permanent dwelling.

Helping homeless people to access the jobs market can really help them to get back on their feet and feel included within the workplace. Make it clear that nobody is to treat them any differently or give them a hard time and make sure that bullying is not tolerated. Foster a warm and welcoming workplace where they can build their confidence and you will be rewarded.

Loyalty and Dedication

Giving people who have been so consistently overlooked a chance to regain their place as part of society will often inspire loyalty and dedication. People who have been homeless prior to becoming employed often have an appreciation of the job that people from more comfortable backgrounds lack and will try harder to make a success of it.

Employee loyalty is something that all employers seek to earn and others who see this may feel a similar sense of loyalty as they have seen you do what you can to turn someone’s life around. It can be a benefit for the whole company and can help build team morale as well.

Accessing Untapped Talent

One of the most important things to realise when we talk about homeless people is that they are all individuals in their own right, and they weren’t always just “homeless people”. They all have their individual life stories which have included various jobs and skills. If you can tap into these skills, then you will be unlocking a source of talent that has been largely overlooked in the workplace.

There are so many places where being homeless would be an impediment to the point where you would never be offered a job but there are homeless people who are incredibly well qualified for job roles, if someone would just look past the fact they are homeless.

Homeless people are not one big homogenous group who all share the same attributes. They have different skills and abilities and many of them had stellar careers before whatever happened to make them homeless.

 “Homeless” isn’t a true marker of identity, it is just a label they wear for a while until they can shed it again. With your help that is exactly what they will be able to do. 

Giving Back to the Local Community

Companies who employ homeless people often see it as doing something positive to help the local community. If homeless people are working at an actual job, it means that they don’t have to find other ways to access money, such as begging, or selling a weekly street magazine. Credit should go to the Big Issue for the work they have done on helping homeless people to sell their weekly magazine. They have been a large employer of homeless people and have worked closely with them for a number of decades.  

Defeating the Skills Gap and Growing Your Business

The all-pervasive skills gap in the UK is like a black hole that nothing can escape from. Being able to engage with the local homeless community and talk to them about their skills and how they see their futures can lead to giving people a chance who you might have otherwise overlooked.

Being able to fill the skills gap in your company with people who are homeless will put you ahead of many of your competitors who are struggling to find enough staff to stay open at peak times sometimes. Even some of the big chains are struggling with skills gaps and a lack of suitably qualified staff. 

Improving Your Brand Image

Everyone likes to hear a good news story and local companies working with homelessness support organisations to find the best staff for their organisations make for excellent local headlines.

The publicity that you gain from this will help to boost your brand image and show that you actually care for how people in the local community are faring during a difficult time economically for the UK. Being seen as a caring organisation can help the public to make up their minds about your company in a positive way and drive more sales and footfall to your location.

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