It’s bad enough to find oneself unemployed in good times—and everyone knows these are not such good times—and even worse to be out of work in an economy that’s taken a nose dive. We came across an article so outrageous we simply had to put up a post about it. Can you imagine an employment ad claiming unemployed applicants will not be considered?
[Source]
This article posted on Tuesday, June 1st details the shock of an Atlanta resident upon finding a hiring ad posted by Sony Ericsson for a position at their new headquarters which is moving to an area just outside of Atlanta. The shock came from the rather bold—and capitalized—statement in the ad that the company would not consider any applicants who were not already employed.
According to Labor Buzz, Jill Spoffard, a recruitment manager for Pitney Bowes, hiring managers may see the presently unemployed applicant as having some inherent flaw, and wonder why, exactly, that they’re unemployed. Gaps in employment history and long stints of unemployment have always been a thorn in the side of any job seeker, but considering the current economic climate, can this type of hard-nosed stance be justified?
Job applicants who have never been laid off and/or still have a job while looking elsewhere are often viewed as superior to someone with large gaps in work history, but considering the present economic downturn, how many currently unemployed applicants are unemployed due to circumstances beyond their control? To automatically rule these workers out when considering new positions seems a bit short sighted when this is considered.
[Source]
This whole talk about unemployed people need not apply flies in the face of the HIRE Act, a new benefit to employers that gives a tax incentive for hiring those that were unemployed. An avoidance of long-term, or chronically unemployed job applicants could possibly be justified in a less hostile job market, but one has to wonder if these companies are not, in the end, hurting themselves in the current economic climate.
What are your thoughts on this potentially frightening trend? Are companies which take this attitude ultimately hurting the economy by keeping employment rates high?
Tweet this
