UK recruitment agencies are indulging in "casual racial discrimination" against job seekers from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, making them more likely than white applicants to apply to employers directly.
This is the key finding of a survey among 2,500 people who have sought work over the last 12 months conducted by SPA Future Thinking and jointly commissioned by Business in the Community’s Race for Opportunity campaign and Diversity Works for London.
The study revealed that, over the last year, a mere 29% of BAME candidates were offered a job when going through a recruitment agency compared with 44% of white ones. If applying directly to employers without an intermediary, however, an equal percentage of BAME and white applicants (29% respectively) were given the post.
Sandra Kerr, director at Race for Opportunity, said: “Tough economic times and rising unemployment levels mean that the current job market is extremely competitive, with a high number of applications for every role. If BAME candidates are not being treated fairly by recruiters at all stages of the job application process, then they are at a distinct disadvantage from the outset.”
For example, when applying through an agency, a mere 57% of BAME candidates even got a first interview compared with a huge 73% of white applicants. As a result, a higher proportion (91%) of the former was likely to approach employers directly than the latter (88%).
Just under half of BAME jobseekers also said that being able to see evidence of diverse role models and a welcoming attitude to candidates from different ethnic backgrounds made a big difference when deciding which employer or recruitment agency to approach.
Indirect barriers
But Tom Hadley, director of policy and professional services at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said that there were always a number of factors at play when employers made a decision as to whom they should appoint.
One factor in this survey was that the sample of BAME candidates was “much younger overall” than the white jobseekers questioned, at a time when “employers are prioritising experience as a selection criteria”, he added.
“At the same time, there is always more that can be done to recognise and address unconscious bias and to look at established procedures that may indirectly create barriers for jobseekers,” Hadley said. “This is something the REC and the Institute of Recruitment Professionals will continue to drive through research, qualifications and training.”
But the report entitled ‘Race and Recruitment: exposing the barriers’ also found that no matter what people’s racial origin, there were four common mistakes made by both employers and recruitment agencies that needed to be addressed as a priority. These were:
- A failure to provide candidates with feedback at each stage of the process in order to manage their expectations
- Not making applicants feel respected and included
- Failing to provide jobseekers with a single point of contact
- Not ensuring that alternative assessment methods beyond standard interviews were provided.
