Career News 24/7: The Cynical Girl: 82% of Recruiters Find Evidence Of Discrimination Against the Unemployed #ows

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The Cynical Girl: 82% of Recruiters Find Evidence Of Discrimination Against the Unemployed #ows

82% of Recruiters Find Evidence Of Discrimination Against the Unemployed #ows

Posted: 14 Nov 2011 06:45 AM PST

Did you read the study that says 82% of recruiters, hiring managers and HR find evidence of discrimination against the unemployed? I don’t teach at Harvard and I am not sure if the study is statistically significant or valid — but I will say that it doesn’t surprise me.

Recruiters are taught that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who need to work and those who want to work.

Those who need to work are risky. They look for money, stability, and expensive benefit packages. Those who want to work are focused on outcomes, a group effort, and can be paid a passion differential. It’s not about money. It’s about an experience.

Except this is a load of nonsense. Recruiters and hiring managers need to hear this and hear it now.

Everyone needs to work. Even passive candidates. Unless you’re part of the 1%, you need to feed your family and put a roof over your head.
Until we hire robot monkeys, there will always be tension in the labor market. You cannot make money without spending money on labor.
Correlation does not equal causation. There are some studies that link positive employee engagement to revenue and earnings; however, for the large part, professors have spent a lifetime trying to determine a positive ROI from employing good HR practices and hiring engaged, passionate workers. They can’t do it on any grand scale.

Business leaders and HR professionals fail this country — and the global economy — when they would rather leave a job open than hire an unemployed person to fill that role. Can’t find a perfect fit? Take a risk. Fill the job, anyway. Then train someone. And look to our younger generations and our veterans to end the war for talent.

As recruiters and business leaders, we must stop reducing labor expenses to inflate our earnings. As we see from the volatility during this recession, improved employee productivity won’t set us free. When you make a better product or service, the market voices confidence in your business. You earn a better share price. That’s how capitalism works.

That’s it.

Now go hire someone.