In New York, Some State Call-Center Employees Are Behind Bars

When it comes to employing prisoners, making license plates or performing roadside cleanup typically come to mind as the kind of jobs given to those behind bars. In New York state, however, a select group of inmates are taking on a different role: over-the-phone customer service representatives for the Department of Motor Vehicles.

In this era of state-budget shortfalls that have resulted in layoffs of government employees, the decision to employ inmates in call-center jobs that could be done by those outside is raising ire.