Statistics don't tell the whole story
WITH reference to last Thursday's article, 'Discriminatory job ads decline: Report', discrimination is not easy to discern or prove.
When a previous employer tasked me with crafting a job advertisement to recruit an engineer, I was careful to ensure that it was non-discriminatory.
However, my employer instructed me to shortlist applicants only from certain racial groups for which there was no justifiable basis. I had no choice but to comply.
Not putting up a discriminatory job advertisement does not mean that there is no discrimination when it comes to recruitment and selection of candidates.
While the decline in discriminatory job advertisements cited by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (Tafep) is impressive, important aspects of job discrimination have not been addressed.
Discriminatory job ads may have plunged to 1 per cent compared to 19.7 per cent in 2006, but what about actual recruitment and selection of applicants?
What about workplace discrimination and prejudice against job seekers?
In fact, it is harder to discern discrimination against job seekers. How does one prove that one's application was rejected because one was too old or not of the preferred sex?
While it may be encouraging to note that some 1,200 companies have signed Tafep's non-discriminatory pledge, are the recruitment and selection processes of these companies audited by independent outsiders to ensure that these firms walk the talk?
Unless that is so, the pledge may not be significant.
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Summary
Although it was reported by Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (Tafep) that there are fewer want ads with discrimination, discrimination still exists in other processes of recruit.
Reflection
I strongly agree with the author and I think job discrimination is one of the most important problems to be solved. In order to make the situation better, the government should put forward a set of particular rules and give evidence to show the importance and benefit to ensure fair competition. An atmosphere of fair employment needs to be set up in the whole society. However, I do not think that the secret works the companies did during recruit was totally wrong. They are just basing on general acknowledgement that people of a particular race or a certain range of age are more qualified in their work. But this opinion is not always true. Singapore government should make companies aware of this. Fairness in recruit is essential especially for Singapore because it is a small country consisted of people of different races and religions. Therefore, justification has always been a tender subject for this country.
vivian
ReplyDeleteI appreciate Phyllis’s response to the Statistics don't tell the whole story for she has really immerse her self into the situation and give practical solutions for eradicating the race discrimination. In addition, I do believe the government is indeed the leading role in standardizing the employment system. I suggest that a supervision platform can be a guarantee for the equality for employment. The government can set up a network for employees’ feedback—if too much complaint about one company exists, then government should do investigation and exert punishment for that company. But this is not the essential step to eliminate discrimination. Still to educate people that everyone is born equal and to assess a person by his capacity and quality is the real solution.
BY Vera
ReplyDeleteI couldn’t agree with Phyllis more. This article reminds me of Martin Luther King’s famous speech” I have a dream”. There is a sentence stating that "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character." When it comes to the career prospective, I deem that fair competition set the critical foundation of one’s excellence in career. In the case of Singapore, talent fuels the development of economy. Thus equality is paramount in the career market. We call for
qualification in job selection, but not discrimination.