By Godson Umejiego, Correspondent USA

CoreCivic hiring continues to be relatively resilient despite a recent executive order (EO) by the US President Joe Biden to do away with private detention facilities. Active jobs open for recruitment in March 2021 are 439 when compared to 301 jobs in March 2020, according to GlobalData.

Most jobs were related to healthcare providers for centers in Nashville, where high COVID-19 cases were reported.

Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, Ajay Thalluri comments: “UN independent human rights experts’ welcoming of the US’s decision to stop using privately run federal prisons – as well as urging to end outsourcing of all detention centres – creates huge uncertainty for CoreCivic. The stakes are especially high in some states as the company signed a 30-year lease agreement with the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) in February 2021.”

Thalluri continues: “A major headwind that impacts CoreCivic in the short-term is COVID-19 outbreaks at its centers. A notable 31 per cent of the company’s total job postings since January 2021 were for health services personnel, with key roles including regional directors within the health services department, facility directors, registered nurses, clinical supervisors and health services administrators.”

Another interesting point to note is that CoreCivic is now providing specific basic pay rates for certain job categories – something it did not do in 2020. For example, a job posting for a registered nurse has a basic pay beginning at US$30 per hour. Similarly, for a licensed vocational nurse, pay starts at US$19 per hour.

Thalluri concludes: “CoreCivic’s recent hiring activity is aimed to ensure the safety of its staff and detainees across 70 centers. The company still has to fulfil long-term contracts with other federal agencies, despite the recent EO that curtails the Department of Justice to renew contracts. However, hiring activity may not sustain the present momentum in the coming months.”