I must be getting grumpy in my old age, with all of this venting I’m doing! This post really ticks me off. I just wrote a post on Peter Newfield’s Career Resumes blog (I’ve been blogging there for the last many months) titled The Unemployed Will Not Be Considered. WHAT??? It comes from a Huffington Post article of a similar name… go check out Peter’s blog to see what I wrote.
This practice is archaic and out of touch with reality. Do these companies, discriminating against those who are out on the street for no good reason, really think that only looking at currently employed people is going to get them the best talent?
What a fallacy.
The companies listed in the HuffPo article include:
- An “anonymous company” that has an opening posted at The People Place recruiting board. Who made this decision, and why?
- Benchmark Electronics, who defends the policy saying they don’t want to waste their time with unqualified applicants. I get that… but that doesn’t mean you should cut out all unemployed people.
- Sony Ericsson temporarily had this statement on their job descriptions: “NO UNEMPLOYED CANDIDATES WILL BE CONSIDERED AT ALL.” Seriously, what outdated recruiting book did this come from?? At least they removed it once “it was noticed.” (oops, one mark against copy and paste).
- An unnamed restaurant in NJ, looking for an assistant restaurant manager…. must be currently employed.
- An unnamed “top 25 CPA firm” in NYC, same thing.
Judy Conti (who needs my LinkedIn DVD – just look at her Profile!) is the federal advocacy coordinator for the National Employment Law Project, and said some awesome stuff, including (read her comments in the last 2 paragraphs of the HuffPo article):
“In the current economy, where millions of people have lost their jobs through absolutely no fault of their own, I find it beyond unconscionable that any employer would not consider unemployed workers for current job openings,”
I agree.. beyond unconscionable.
As a whole we tend to be lazy. I believe the practice of seeking primarily amongst the already employed is a sign of crass laziness — abdicating your responsibility to look for the best candidates to some other company’s internal process! On the contrary, companies should be scooping up the many high-quality candidates currently available at probably more affordable rates. I am floored by the quality of people available out there right now, from talented young graduates to dynamic young professionals to seasoned project managers to reliable veterans.
Oh my. I guess I’m in trouble. If this is in fact the trend, my job at an urban career center to serve unemployed jobseekers is futile. Of course the statement that unemployed people are not viable candidates is not true. And this practice of not hiring the unemployed is blatant discrimination…and bad business.
Here’s the thing: many of my customers have been down-sized because of duplication after an acquisition. They are fully capable but were unfortunately tagged as the ones to go. They eventually get jobs, but often getting laid off is a blow to their confidence.
A real eye-opener, Jason.
Bob
I heard that all the cool people are unemployed these days….
Seriously…. the statement that a company won’t consider hiring a HUGE segment of the population is not only idiotic, but that’s discrimination!!!
I get that a company may only want to see “passive” candidates submitted from recruiters, but they also NEED to be looking at all qualified applicants, which includes “active” job seekers as well.
So for all of you that were offended by Sony Ericsson faux-pas, know that you are far more hip and current than they are 😉
This attitude is infuriating but, sadly, becoming more prevalent among HR professionals and hiring managers. What they fail to think about is that people like me who have been without “permanent” jobs for long periods of time are so desperate to get back to work that they are incredibly motivated, will work unbelievably hard and will often accept lower starting salaries just to get back in the workforce.
I sent Sony Ericcson PR an email regarding they won’t hire “unemployed” in this economy! Curious if I’ll get a repsonse! I tried to email “People Place” but thy must have their mail servers shut down.
I think that there should be a website that publishes the names of the companies that do this sort of discrimination, and because it is “beyond unconscionable”, the public boycotts those businesses. Then let’s see how long these hiring managers stay employed themselves because of the downturn in business they created.
Actually, this unspoken “rule of engagement” in job hunting has been around for quite a while. I talk about that in my latest blog, “Two words potential employers do not want to hear” at https://www.victoree.wordpress.com, where I also refer to “The Career Diva” whose blog has a blunt, honest word about it called, “Don’t Look So Jobless”. She zeroes in on that certain Florida company. If it weren’t so serious I would laugh myself to tears.
Well, you can’t just Boycott the ones that “say” it in print (WHAT DUMBASSES). You pretty much have to Boycott any company large enough to have an HR department. I would gladly pay a little more to watch these giants fall. Even in a good economy I have always felt they were the enemy. I usually don’t bother to apply any place that would have an HR department because I have never gotten a job once….and I mean never…. by going through one of them.
The U.S. has become such a horrible place to live I am thinking about moving to Mexico before the next stock market crash.
IF everyone took their retirement savings out of the bank (out of Wall Street) and just moved to Mexico (to retire on $500 bucks a month NOT to work), it might be one way to make these idiots suffer.
I am serious, I wanna put my entire lifes savings under a mattress in Mexico.
I’m a single mom of two young boys one who is six and the other is one. I’ve been looking for a job for over a month now and no luck. many of the jobs I’ve applied I have been well suited for but turned down. I’m struggling to make it day to day some days I’ve gone without eating just so my boys can. I have a high school diploma and some college credit hours but no job. If anyone knows of any good leads please let me know natashadenisejones@yahoo.com
How many more tactics will be considered or implemented before the people realize that the tactic of conquer and divided in the United States actually works. Can we people fight back? The employed in California are paying an additional 10% on their paychecks for state taxes because there are not enough people working to pay taxes. The additional tax monies has taken part of the rent and food monies away from single Mothers. Let’s protest by everyone sending their resume to any company that posts the “unemployed need not apply” whether we are qualified or not. In addition, let’s not purchase any product from these companies and ask our employed friends and family to do the same. More importantly, what form of government will we have when baby boomers collect Social Security and all of their IRA monies? When are we going to realize the question “Who is supporting who with U.S. dollar?”
By not employing the unemployed less money is circulated within the economy for business to thrive and the age group of employed will be eligible for Social Security. Maybe the government ought to offer companies a tax break for hiring the employed before hiring the employed only.
Maybe the government could offer companies a tax break for hiring the employed.
l/sets start boycotting companies that are purposely not hiring just to hurt obama’adm.
I really don’t understand. I’ve been out of work for just over 2 mths. And i have filled out many,many, many applicatiations that I know I’m qualified for an not even one interview until today and then they said” it might be a problem because you don’t have a job now”. I did not choose to be laid off. Where I worked at …the owner decided to close down and retire. I very much want to work full time. I need a job!!!! Unemployment benifits are good but it doesnt pay all the bills!. I’m gonna have to move because I can’t pay the rent anymore drawing unemployment benifits. It’s not enough. I am so so sad and feel like a looser.
Why doesn’t everyone just call Manpower in Nebraska at (402) 397-5455.
Reason why is that James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation (which poses as a think tank but is worse than The Moonies) thinks that someone seeking a busboy job in NY should relocate to Nebraksa where the jobs are. I am sure the folks in Nebraska would love to have a million New Yorkers relocate to Omaha. But I suggest that we all call the headhunter and totally disrupt their day. They hate it when people actually apply for the bogus jobs they advertise, especially the lazy good for nothing unemployed.
BTW, headhunters, recruiters and temp agency workers are really the scum of the earth.
The solution would be to vote these F’in tea party and/or republicans out!! I am very angry with the democrats too, but the Tea Party would rather we all live in a tent city than see a Mosque built two blocks from Ground Zero. I don’t care if Osama Bin Laden himself is a card carryin’ member of the Mosque (two blocks away may as well be two million miles). I also don’t care if gays want to get married since none of this directly affects what is in my wallet. The Tea Party gets genuinely riled up about this stuff and Wall Street benefits. The unemployed have to stop shopping at Walmart (and everywhere else that is large enough to have a Human Resources Department). Do you know that Walmart had the biggest CEO bonuses and the biggest profits (and the largest number of layoffs). Most of the layoffs are not even necessary. They just happen so that the CEOs can maintain their lavish bonuses.
And the stupid morons in the Tea Party are worried about gay marriage and a Mosque (which is happening millions of miles from where they live in their bigoted dirtbag towns). Do they think Wall Street wants to help them. I AM SO SICK OF THESE PEOPLE!
I mean they would rather get rid of social security than pay a 1.5% tax increase. Is that completely nuts?
I used to be reliable and dependable and able to hold a position in a company up until I was laid off because they did not have the money to pay me any longer. Now because of that, I am unreliable and undependable unable to hold a position in a company. Because the reasons why those who wont hire the unemployed is so akwardly wrong, it tells me that they are lying – it tells me that they have other reasons and those reasons are in reality against the law.
Temp agencies are in fact the scum of the earth. Cockroaches, all of em.
A simple solution for some job seekers that are currently unemployed would be to start their own business, create an LLC or similar entity so that when you are unemployed you can claim on a resume continuous employment. Of course, you’ll want to make sure you file appropriate forms with the state and IRS – whether you make any freelance income or not. But if the goal is to avoid being looked over for simply not have a job, it could be a good solution.
I agree Ray – to take it one step further, really work on a business, even if it isn’t huge income. That’s one reason why I wrote my next book, 51 Alternatives to a Real Job.
Companies should realize that “what comes around, goes around.”
Things will go full circle again and people will remember these stories of poor treatment. That’s the wonderful thing about America, the entrepreneur will rise again and that’s where we all will want to work, not for the dinosaur that stomped on us. I certainly didn’t expect the hiring recovery to take so long, but it will happen again and people will once again be in demand. My 2 cents three years later!!! Let’s hope that this post become irrelevant over the next 3 years, k?
Thanks Heather… my guess is that this has a lot to do with a lot of factors, not just the economy. The fundamental shift away from a company being loyal to a worker (which I think happened before the worker being unloyal to the company) is a big part of how they perceive “talent.” I don’t see that changing, at all.
I do think more people are going to have multiple revenue streams and the “traditional job” is going to be less pivotal for personal or family finances than it has been. Which means (a) there will be less people who are “unemployed” and (b) more people will care just a little less if they don’t get the dream gig, because they have switched to the mode of always looking for the next gig, and they realize gigs come and go.
Thx for the comment 🙂
I NEED to get your book!
You should get a bunch and hand them out like candy 🙂 http://www.51Alternatives.com
I’m not convinced large companies were every truly “loyal” to workers. In most cases they keep people because it might cost more to retrain another workers. I think that the fundamental shift returning companies to using outside companies to produce or assist in the production and marketing of their products makes the average company worker more replaceable and the average corporate high executive less replaceable. The reality of the global economy and “just-in-time” and lean manufacturing concepts also affects the need for a company to retain unneeded workforce.
Here in the States we have the added complexity of significant cultural issues – less stable marriages is a key factor in overall decline. For American culture and by extension the American economy to succeed, strong marriages are necessary. I don’t mean solely for the purpose of having dual incomes – evidence is pretty clear that two parent families have better educational outcomes for their children.