Honestly, for employers out there, what do you believe the chances are that you would hire a terrorist or some other misguided soul who believes he should inflict damage on the people and property of this country? It’s small. Remote even. As a background screening company, let’s say not many terrorists come up on our Global Terror Watch List Scan.
But then we are referring to people being hired in this country. Most employment screening is for domestic hires or international hires who are usually professional people in finance, healthcare, and technology. There are exceptions, of course, but that is the bulk of the international hires.
On the other hand you have U.S. Employers who are hiring outside the country. In places like Afghanistan where according to a Wall Street Journal article the U.S. Contractors have been hiring the Taliban. As in a lot of Taliban. And these are not just the sweepers and schleppers. These are employment hires that are private security guards assigned to protect convoys and bases. Small wonder for some of the attacks. Additionally, these guards are untrained, have weapons that don’t really work, and many desert their posts on a regular basis. Some of the employees are suspected of being agents of Iran. And to think we are paying for this. Okay.
I guess it is difficult to conduct background checks in Afghanistan. The criminal records have to be a mess, and even if there were criminal records, who can you trust to retrieve them honestly and openly? Even here in America there is the intentional shelving of certain background checks and criminal records are somehow “misplaced” or overlooked. So imagine there where if there is no corruption in government then there is no government at all.
There is no point in playing the blame game here. Frankly, I don’t know how you hire workers in Afghanistan who are not affiliated with the Taliban or have a brother or relative that is somehow affiliated and brings pressure to bear. Perhaps that is more the lesson rather than shoddy employment screening. In a place where you cannot conduct decent background checks and where every employee just about comes under suspicion, then we are hiring them for what reason?
Stay turned on this one. As for you employers in the United States, this is but one more lesson as to why you should always Check Them Out Before You Hire.
