Expatriate Assignments

Bias Found Against Unemployed

In 2011, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission began investigating employers’ refusal to hire unemployed applicants as a potential form of discrimination.

Researchers from California State University in San Marcos and Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Ga., say they have the first empirical evidence of a stigma or bias against unemployed job candidates that increases the longer they are unemployed.

“Candidates unemployed for 18 months were viewed as less qualified and would be less likely to be granted an interview and hired than those unemployed for six or 12 months at all ages studied,” the researchers wrote. “There is a stigma associated with being unemployed for a long duration of time despite the fact that many individuals have become unemployed solely due to adverse economic conditions.”

The study found that volunteer work reduces this stigma, increasing the likelihood of those unemployed candidates being interviewed or hired. The volunteer work didn’t have to be work-related to have a positive effect, the researchers found.

Performing volunteer work enhanced a candidate’s attractiveness in the study because the candidate was perceived to have desirable personal attributes, such as good citizenship, rather than because of perceptions of job qualifications or skills, they found.

The study involved 270 college students judging fictitious resumes. The applicants varied by the duration of their unemployment, their age and their volunteer work. The study was conducted by Ted H. Shore, professor of management and marketing at California State University, and Armen Tashchian, professor of marketing and professional sales at Kennesaw State University.