There’s a shocking amount of small companies where a sizable proportion of the workers are family of the owner. The most perplexing example was a tax consultant whose 4 employees were his wife, his daughter, his son-in-law and his sister.
I’ve often looked down upon this and have been quick to label it as nepotism, but if I was in a position to hire someone, wouldn’t I prioritize someone I care about who was suffering to find acceptable working conditions in the labor market? Then again, this attitude generates a self-perpetuating problem where people can’t access to job openings through their own merits and meritocracy, because the family members of the company owner can’t find a job through their own merits and meritocracy.
If it’s direct family like that, I’d probably choose them as well, working with new people is always hard. With cousins and other more distant relatives I probably wouldn’t give a fuck and only hired them if they were better than other candidates.