CAIRO — The British job market is plagued by a widespread racial discrimination against workers with African and Asian backgrounds, a government survey has found. "Candidates with an Asian or African name face real discrimination and this has exposed the fact that companies are missing out on real talent," Employment Minister Jim Knight told the Guardian Sunday, October 18.
The survey, whose findings would be made public on Monday, October 19, shows that racism and bias against minorities' jobseekers are widespread among British employers.
Researchers sent 3,000 job applications using names recognizably from three different communities for 987 actual vacancies between November 2008 and May 2009.
Every false applicant had British education and work histories.
They found that an applicant, who appeared to be white, would send nine applications before receiving a positive response.
But minority applicants with the same qualifications and experience had to send 16 applications before receiving a similar response.
Navdeep Sethia, 24, an unemployed architecture graduate from Chalk Farm, central London, says the findings reflect the reality he lives every day.
"I personally feel that my foreign-sounding name makes a lot of difference," he told the Guardian.
Sethia has submitted more than 400 applications but received response from only 40 employers and has had fewer than 20 interviews.
"I am sure employers think of Southall when they see my name and that is enough for them to put my application aside."
James Nkwacha, 28, a physics graduate whose family is from Nigeria, has applied for 60 jobs this year.
"The jobs are within my range. I am qualified for them. But for some reason I have been overlooked."
Figures show that ethnic minorities have the worst unemployment and housing crises in the European country.
Some 70 percent of all ethnic minorities live in the 88 most deprived areas, compared to 40 percent of the general population.
Knight, the employment minister, said the study results are shocking.
"We suspected there was a problem," he told the Guardian.
"This uncovers the shocking scale of it."
Knight said the government is considering to bar companies that have been found to have discriminated against employees from applying for government contracts.
Peter Luff, the Conservative chairman of the Commons business, innovation and skills select committee, described the findings as disturbing.
“The conclusions are indeed deeply disturbing and indicate the probability of significant discrimination which will have to be analyzed closely once the full report is released this week."
Anti-racism groups welcomed the survey, saying it testifies to the scale of the racism problem in the European country.
"The evidence of the DWP report is unquestionable – we live in a society where racial discrimination systematically occurs and currently goes in the main unchallenged," said Iqbal Wahhab, chair of the Ethnic Minority Advisory Group.
He opposes the idea of imposing sanctions on the firms found guilty.
"…instead we should help them understand that their current practices mean they are not fit to supply big customers like government departments."
Source: IslamOnline
The survey, whose findings would be made public on Monday, October 19, shows that racism and bias against minorities' jobseekers are widespread among British employers.
Researchers sent 3,000 job applications using names recognizably from three different communities for 987 actual vacancies between November 2008 and May 2009.
Every false applicant had British education and work histories.
They found that an applicant, who appeared to be white, would send nine applications before receiving a positive response.
But minority applicants with the same qualifications and experience had to send 16 applications before receiving a similar response.
Navdeep Sethia, 24, an unemployed architecture graduate from Chalk Farm, central London, says the findings reflect the reality he lives every day.
"I personally feel that my foreign-sounding name makes a lot of difference," he told the Guardian.
Sethia has submitted more than 400 applications but received response from only 40 employers and has had fewer than 20 interviews.
"I am sure employers think of Southall when they see my name and that is enough for them to put my application aside."
James Nkwacha, 28, a physics graduate whose family is from Nigeria, has applied for 60 jobs this year.
"The jobs are within my range. I am qualified for them. But for some reason I have been overlooked."
Figures show that ethnic minorities have the worst unemployment and housing crises in the European country.
Some 70 percent of all ethnic minorities live in the 88 most deprived areas, compared to 40 percent of the general population.
Knight, the employment minister, said the study results are shocking.
"We suspected there was a problem," he told the Guardian.
"This uncovers the shocking scale of it."
Knight said the government is considering to bar companies that have been found to have discriminated against employees from applying for government contracts.
Peter Luff, the Conservative chairman of the Commons business, innovation and skills select committee, described the findings as disturbing.
“The conclusions are indeed deeply disturbing and indicate the probability of significant discrimination which will have to be analyzed closely once the full report is released this week."
Anti-racism groups welcomed the survey, saying it testifies to the scale of the racism problem in the European country.
"The evidence of the DWP report is unquestionable – we live in a society where racial discrimination systematically occurs and currently goes in the main unchallenged," said Iqbal Wahhab, chair of the Ethnic Minority Advisory Group.
He opposes the idea of imposing sanctions on the firms found guilty.
"…instead we should help them understand that their current practices mean they are not fit to supply big customers like government departments."
Source: IslamOnline
| Home | Daily News | We Are On... |
