Employers: Pilot Project and Bias

employers: If it succeeds, the pilot project will help government hire the best talent, while at the same time allowing it to better reflect the diverse people it serves, according to Toronto Star. The initiative could act as a model for other employers, both public and private. Dreamstime Mon., April 24, 2017 A new attempt by Ottawa to root out bias in the hiring of federal civil servants is a modest initiative, but with real promise. The idea behind the name-blind hiring project announced this week is simple; the names, emails and countries of birth of job-seekers will be removed from their applications, with the aim of preventing the bias unconscious or otherwise that too often leads employers not to bring in applicants of diverse backgrounds for interviews. A recent study out of U of T and Ryerson University, for instance, found that job seekers with Asian names and Canadian qualifications were considerably less likely to get calls for interviews than were applicants with English-sounding names -- even when the person with the Asian name had a better education. The body of evidence that ethnic and racial bias plays a troubling role in hiring is growing. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.