Man. Myth. Morland.: Sell block

Chris Harry is a model employee for the U.S. call-center industry.

The 25 year-old arrives promptly at his cubicle, speaks courteously on the phone and is never late or absent. He plans to stick with his job for three years, a boon in an industry plagued by high turnover. And he gladly works for money many Americans would scoff at -- $130 or so a month.

After all, he could be back swabbing cell-block floors for a third of that.

"I can't complain about fair," said Harry, who was sentenced to 10 years and eight months for robbery. "I did a crime and I'm in prison. At least I'm not wearing a ball and chain."

I really hate to take issue with this because it's such a fluff piece, but what is the primary intent behind giving inmates jobs? If it's to occupy idle hands and provide a sense of purpose, then I'm all for this, but as Lafer notes there's something rather perverse about training a prisoner for a job that won't exist once they're freely allowed to seek employment.

And why did they categorize this as a "business" article? Do they need to get the word out to all the Fortune 500 CEOs who are desperately seeking cheap, incarcerated labor?