Most people have experienced some kind of discrimination when
seeking jobs, according to a survey.
The discrimination involves gender, age, educational background
and physical attributes.
The recent survey covered 3,500 people in 10 major cities.
Eighty-five per cent of the respondents acknowledge the existence
of job discrimination and slightly more than half said there exists
"serious discrimination".
Conducted by the Constitutional Government Research Institute of
China University of Politics and Law, the survey was to gauge
fairness in the booming job market in China.
Cai Dingjian, head of the institute, told the media job
discrimination can be found in almost all walks of life in obvious
and invisible forms.
"Some so-called must-be requirements for jobs are ridiculous,"
Cai said.
Female job seekers encounter discrimination over future
maternity leave.
"We have to conquer the multi-tier barriers of gender, job
skills, working experience, and talent, to be treated equally as
men. Otherwise, even top female students could lose out to males of
average level performance," said an anonymous 22-year-old from
Chongqing Normal University.
Most job advertisements detail gender, age, nationality, ethnic
group, marriage status, height, educational background and working
experience.
Some overstep the mark by requiring applicants to be "above
average looking" or a "good social drinker".
Physically disabled people topped the discrimination list.
Sixty-six percent said they had experienced some kind of
discrimination.
They were followed by people suffering from the HIV/AIDS virus,
hepatitis B, and migrant workers.
Mo Rong, deputy director of the labor science research institute
under the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, told China
Daily the lack of legal support is to blame.
However, the drafting of the Employment Promotion Law will help
alleviate the problem, he said.
(China Daily June 14, 2007)