Employment opportunities used to be for people out of work. But in today’s post-recession economy not having a job is an automatic disqualifier, leaving many of the 14 million Americans who are unemployed besides themselves.

 

The New York Times reports that a review of job notices on websites like Monster.com, CareerBuilder and Craigslist revealed hundreds that preferred candidates who already have a job or were recently laid off.

 

For those let go during the recession, the limitation means it will be that much more difficult to ever find employment again.

 

Refusing to consider long-term unemployed is not illegal, experts say. But politicians aren’t willing to stand by and watch constituents discriminated against in this manner. New Jersey has already adopted legislation outlawing job advertisements that bar unemployed workers from applying. New York and Michigan are considering similar bills, as is Congress.

 

Limiting the pool of job applicants makes it easier for lazy hiring managers. “We may be seeing what’s called statistical discrimination,” Robert Shimer, a labor economist at the University of Chicago, told The New York Times. “On average, these workers might be less attractive, and employers don’t bother to look more closely to pick out the good ones.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

The Help-Wanted Sign Comes With a Frustrating Asterisk (by Catherine Rampell, New York Times)

Hiring Discrimination Against the Unemployed (National Employment Law Project) (pdf)

Jobs Available…But If You’re Unemployed, Don’t Apply (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)