Today . .. Monday, 3 May 2010 .... by Esther Ng
SINGAPORE - It is an open
secret in the recruitment industry that employers do not want to
hire those aged 35 and above. They also have other biases, like
wanting to hire only young, pretty women, or the perception that
some ethnic groups are more prone to absenteeism.
These employers know that placing prejudicial job advertisements
will land them in trouble. So they hire others, like staffing
consultants, to do their dirty work - the filtering of "unsuitable"
candidates - for them.
While some consultants MediaCorp spoke to deny such practices,
others admit they usually accede to their clients' requests.
Clients come from all industries, from small and medium enterprises
to multinational companies.
Can more be done to do away with such discriminatory practices? In
the last three-and-a-half years, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair
Employment (Tafep) - made up of the Singapore National Employers
Federation, the National Trades Union Congress and the Ministry of
Manpower - have been urging employers to look beyond age, gender
and race when hiring.
Tafep said it has been instrumental in reducing discriminatory job
advertisements in the print media from 20 per cent to just 1 per
cent. But there is only so much an official body can do.
The reality is some employers remain biased, and it is not in the
interest of recruitment consultants to change such mindsets when
they face stiff competition from rivals for business.
A recruitment consultant who only wanted to be known as Alvin,
said: "If all four candidates from four different agencies are
equally good, the client will take the candidate from the agency
which charges the lowest commission."
Staffing firm Adecco South-east Asia's regional director Lynne Ng
and Mr David Ang, executive director of Singapore Human Resource
Institute, told MediaCorp that companies that turn down
discriminatory clients will lose business.
However, Mr Ang said: "It might be tough in the beginning but over
time, the staffing company will build itself an honourable name and
get more business."
Ms Ng noted that discrimination in recruitment is becoming "less"
of a problem, although it is still "evident in places", often
through ignorance.
"Companies may request for someone of a particular ethnicity or age
group - without clearly thinking through if this makes sense or
whether it is ethical," she said.
Ms Ng suggested heavy fines for companies making discriminatory
requests, on top of measures to educate employers.
Kelly Services Asia-Pacific's senior vice-president, Mr Dhirendra
Shantilal, said consultants should clarify the rationale behind any
preferences that may appear discriminatory, and provide alternative
solutions to the employer.
Some consultants do try to convince clients to be a bit more
"flexible" in their selection criteria, especially when a candidate
is suitably qualified.
Mr Lim, a recruitment consultant who spoke to MediaCorp on the
condition that his full name and company are not revealed, said
some clients may then agree to interview the applicant, but others
may not.
"Or some tell me, 'Alright, I'll interview him, but if he gets the
job, I'll pay him a lower salary," he said.
Some tell the consultants that they only want to hire young, pretty
Chinese females as receptionists or administrative
assistants.
"There's a perception that only females are suitable. This is
rather sexist because way back in the past, clerks or receptionists
were men," said Mr Lim.
Last year, 35 per cent of applications he got for these jobs were
from men.
Tafep told MediaCorp that the screening of candidates based on
biases were "not acceptable and unfair" to qualified
candidates.
Tafep's co-chair Halimah Yacob said: "If such practices persist or
become more widespread, they undermine national efforts at building
an inclusive workforce and result in a lose-lose situation for
employers as well as employees."
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100503-0000029/They-get-others-to-do-their-discriminatory-hiring
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