INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana employers facing a tight labor market are welcoming former prisoners with the help of state and local government.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development found 15,000 ex-offenders are released from state prisons each year. The recidivism rate is at 38 percent.

The Indianapolis Business Journal reports that the state wants to expand its job placement program for ex-offenders. The HIRE program started with 300 employers in 2012 but had grown to nearly 1,140 businesses through November. It has placed almost 2,000 workers with a 97 percent retention rate.

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett plans to offer bonus tax breaks to companies that agree to hire ex-offenders.

The Indy Chamber recently won a second year of funding for a program that helps former inmates become entrepreneurs.