Since I started my online business back in 2002 I haven’t been visiting the online job sites or reading the employment classified ads. Thanks to the news, I do know unemployment is way up because there aren’t enough jobs for those who want to work and the length of time people remain unemployed is getting longer.
However now there is a new trend that makes it harder for those caught in the ranks of the unemployed to find and get a job.
Did you know that many companies won’t even consider hiring the unemployed?
It’s a fact.
If you are currently without work, for any reason, there are companies with job openings that won’t even let you apply.
At first I couldn’t believe it was true since there are many qualified, hard working people who have lost their jobs for reasons not under their control. Reasons like companies going bankrupt or companies relocating jobs to other countries.
Unfortunately it is true. There was an article in Time back in May of this year, a briefing paper in July, and even the Today Show talked about it this month.
Not allowing a person to apply for a job because they are unemployed is unbelievable but true.
Now I could talk about why this hiring philosophy is bad for the unemployed but instead I’ll tell you why I think it’s bad for business. When a business limits its applications to only those currently employed it may be banning the most qualified from applying. In today’s job market, not having a job doesn’t automatically mean someone is a bad worker or doesn’t have the skills. In fact, a person with several years of experience working in an field where new skills had to be acquired regularly and then lost their job due to extraneous factors may be more qualified than most of those applying who currently have jobs. And I’ll even go on to say that most of those who have been unemployed for awhile will work harder at keeping the job since they are more desperate.
Am I wrong?
Leave a comment and let me know what you think about this new form of job discrimination?
To Your Success,
Susan
P.S. Just to let you know, I am not currently unemployed nor have I ever been. However kicking someone when their down, just because they are down, doesn’t seem right to me.
If you would like to do something about this unfair hiring practice there is a petition to “Ban Job Listings that Discriminate Against the Unemployed” from Monster.com you can sign.
P.P.S. After writing this article I found out my youngest daughter – the one who worked the entire time she was working on her PhD – encountered this problem personally. After she had her degree she tried to apply for a job and because she was only a part-time employee the last few years she was not allowed to apply for a job. Even though her part-time work was giving her experience in her field and she had received her degree, because she was not a full-time employee, she was not allowed to submit an application.
So now, after our conversation, I am taking this insane hiring policy personally!
Related articles
- Unemployed need not apply …Jess Kutch, Change.org (ynative77.wordpress.com)
- ‘Unemployed need not apply’ stigma keeps blacks jobless (thegrio.com)
- Staffing agencies defend job ads discriminating against the unemployed (dailykos.com)
