The Age newspaper (based in Melbourne) published an article on
jobseekers in Australia (dated 18 June 09). In the article, it
stated that researchers from Australian National University sent
out 400 fake job applications to employers advertising on the
internet for entry level hospitality, data entry, customer service
and sales job, changing only the racial origin of the supposed
applicants' names.
The study found that applicants with Chinese names fared the
worst compared to applicants with Anglo Saxon names. Typically a
Chinese-named applicant would need to put in 68 per cent more
applications than an Anglo-named applicant to get the same number
of calls back. A Middle Eastern-named applicant needed 64 percent
more applications.
Based on the results, the researchers concluded that it is clear
that employers discriminated on the basis of the racial origin of
the applicants' names. The fake applications made clear that the
jobseekers had completed secondary schooling in Australia making it
unlikely that the employers had assumed the non-Anglo applicants
could not speak English.
This study confirmed my view that Australian employers are
biased against applicants of Asian origin. For those who wish to
migrate here and hope to get a decent job, it best to be prepared
for a tough job market.