Patrick
Job Discrimination
Posted by Patrick on November 25, 2008
NO NURSING GRADUATES PLEASE!
I came across an observation (or comment) posted by a user in a Filipino internet forum, mentioning, among others, that in a particular job search site, there was a company advertising for CSR (Customer Service Representative) positions. There was one catch though. One of their requirements: “No nursing graduates please!”
I had to verify the claim of the user so I went to take a look at the said job search site, and true enough, I found the advertisement of that company.
Here’s a screen capture (excerpt) of the said advertisement, wherein I highlighted some parts.
”
A captured copy of the full advertisement can be found here.
The direct link (if still available) is here.
The company said that one of its requirements was that the candidate should have completed high school, or a vocational course or a college degree in ANY FIELD. Then it contradicts itself a few lines later by saying “No nursing graduates please!”
Now that may not necessarily mean discrimination at work, but I certainly feel that it definitely it IS discrimination against a particular group of individuals.
Or are they referring to “nursing” as those who have graduated but currently have newborn babies they are taking care of and breastfeeding? I don’t think so.
And that would still be discrimination whatever way you look at it.
I checked the company’s other ads for different positions and some of them had these phrases as part of their (or their client’s) requirements:
- No nursing graduates please
- PREFERABLY NO NURSING BACKGROUND
- NURSING GRADS applicants will also be accommodated.
So, depending on the position you’d apply for, a nursing background could actually either be lucky enough to be tolerated or unfortunately directly shunned.
OK so I’ll ask the question directly.
What’s with the company’s (non) preference for nursing graduates? It’s come to a point that they actually (or practically) tell us directly that “Hey, don’t bother applying. We don’t want you.” This may be true for other employers as well – not just in this case.
The company now on the center stage, right under the glare of the spotlight, is ExcelAsia Training and Development Inc. with its office in Makati City. It has its sights set on being the “biggest Human Resources Solutions company in Asia.” But with that kind of attitude, it may encounter some rough sailing.
If a company prefers to hire people based on certain qualifications, I am not totally against that, since it is within their rights to do so. However, the blatant, open and direct refusal (or limited preference) to hire those who are graduates of a certain course does not speak well of the company and its values. It sends out the wrong signals to other employers as well.
What about the job search site where this advertisement was initially placed – could they be liable as well for discrimination or failure to protect the rights (and interests) of the general public?
I’m no nursing graduate. I’m not even from any allied medical field. But being in the Human Resources field, I still find it offensive (to say the least) that an advertisement like that is accepted (or tolerated) for posting in an internet job search site that has a wide-reaching audience.
Does the management of ExcelAsia know that perhaps some of their subordinates are actually damaging their company’s reputation by (maybe unknowingly) discriminating against certain types of applicants. Or do these actions have their blessings?
What else can we do to curb these incidents and prevent them from rising in the future?
(more thoughts to follow)
May said
Has anyone noticed that ExcelAsia is an HR solutions firm? Therefore, a headhunter. Doesn’t that mean that these qualifications may be those of the clients that hire them and not the requirements of the company itself?
ExcelAsia Management said
Dear Bloggers,
Greetings from ExcelAsia. I am from management and I would just like to inform everyone that first and foremost, we do accept nursing graduates, in fact we have a whole dedicated FREE training class just for them. The only reason some of our ads have that line is because some of the accounts we serve (call center requirements) do not accept nursing graduates because they are looking for financial or technical background. But when we opened our free training classes for nurses, some of our clients started accepting because we pushed for it and we are proud to say that as I write this letter, we have trained (for free), and placed nearly 50 nurses to date.
They are all working in call centers now. The nursing industry is good for us and we would like to invite more nurses to apply with us.
I think the misunderstanding here lies in the fact that we have over 30 multinational clients and some clients accept nursing graduates, some don’t. And the reason we have that in our ads is because the account managers that handle specific accounts (for technical and financial) don’t want to waste your (nurses) time by coming all the way here just to find out that they need a financial or technical degree. We even have ads that say Nursing graduates welcome!
We have specific requirements for specific accounts.
Nevertheless, our intent was never to insult or discriminate against any specific background or degree. Our goal is to provide jobs to people who need them and we are urging those nurses who are seeking great careers to come over and apply.
Thank you for bringing this up to us.
The Management.
Patrick said
Dear May,
While it is true that the qualifications may be those of the clients and not of the company itself, the mere fact that ExcelAsia is an HR Solutions company would or should at least give them the edge or knowledge that they should avoid blatant discrimination.
Just as what we do when reading email, we disregard those that we are not interested in, rather tell everyone in our mailing list not to send us emails about so-and-so topics.
Similarly, if you don’t want a particular TV show because it’s not what you prefer, you just change the channel. You don’t tell the TV station that they shouldn’t show the particular program because you don’t like it.
Patrick said
Dear ExcelAsia Management (Rita Trillo-Ugarte),
Thsnk you for your email and comment.
While I agree that some clients prefer technical and financial skills, perhaps it would be better to put them as preferences rather than mention other courses as non-preferences.
Besides, the nurses won’t be wasting time going all the way there to your place if they submit their applications online – you won’t call them up if they’re not needed for a particular program or project.
And if they do go to your office, you can always refer them to another program or project within your company’s clients who are willing to accept nursing graduates.
So there isn’t any waste of time anywhere for them.
The only waste of time may actually be with your employees sifting through a lot of emails or applications and deleting those who are nursing graduates. Then again with Jobstreet, you can actually forward the resumes from one applied position (advertisement) to another one that you also have that accepts nursing graduates.
ExcelAsia Management said
Hi Patrick and thanks so much for the feedback.
I agree with you and have in fact instructed my team to be more considerate with the ads.
You are correct and we will no longer be posting ads like that because in effect (although we mean no malice or discrimination), it could be misconstrued as discrimination.
We are really, really trying to get all our trained nurses hired and in fact we ask our clients to accept them.
ExcelAsia is a great company and in fact even those without college degrees who come here, we try to find a job for, even if we won’t get paid for them. This is exactly why ExcelAsia is liked by applicants, because we try so hard for them to get jobs, whether qualified or not, we’ve even hired some of those who didn’t pass for the call centers to work with us here in our office, just to help.
Oh and do you know that our Recruitment Manager in our Cebu site is a nurse and our old Cebu Site director was a nurse, but she left for Texas already deployed as a nurse and is working there and we still have great relations and keep in touch. So in effect, when it is assumed that we are discriminating, it makes us feel bad because we even have current ExcelAsia empoyees who are nurses, and our old site director was a registered nurse….and she was an excellent employee for the 2 years she handled ExcelAsia Cebu. I felt bad she left for Texas but it was a greater opportunity for her and I told her to take it and succeed in her nursing career.
We only mean well.
Thanks again for your feedback.
The Management
lyndsay82 said
I think since nursing graduates are in demand anywhere in the world, employers are most worried about them resigning after a rigorous processing of employee standardization…it still fair, knowing it costs money for them to train people and yet they won’t even last 6 months because they’ll be leaving for greener pasture somewhere around the world.
Mel said
It’s very irresponsible for the HR to circulate jobs that contain words like that.