Good and bad points, Andro. Plenty of felons get jobs
Oh I didn't say they couldn't get jobs, well paying ones? Doesn't sound like it. Ex-cons certainly are more willing to work for less pay. However when you have people underemployed or underpaid, recidivism certainly is a possible outcome. Your example of the luggage thieves, if they were getting paid better, they'd probably be a bit less likely to be stealing on the job. Pay people well enough. But don't take my word for it: http://news.illinois.edu/news/12/0730wagepremium_ClaraChen.html
Evidently, some organizations prefer felons.
Perhaps so, they might be willing to work for less pay, given their ex-convict status, makes them perhaps a slightly more desperate than average workforce.
I don't have any issues with giving people job skills at all, I just don't trust that the motives behind the people doing the training are 100% altruistic. They want a labor force that can be easily manipulated to work long hours for cheap. Ex-convicts fill that role nicely, as do H1B workers and new graduates.
What's the difference between an office with beds, a gym, a cafeteria(as seen as some sprawling corporate campuses) and a prison?