Don’t Just Employ the Employed

It’s no secret that unemployed people face discrimination from hiring managers. Given the large number of unemployed people out there, you are really limiting your recruiting pool by cutting them out of it. Do you really think that’s a good idea?

A recent article by the World Economic Forum shows some of the challenges candidates face the longer they are unemployed. Recruiters in some companies don’t even want to talk to someone who is unemployed. The percentage of the unemployed population that is “long-term unemployed” has grown in Asian countries, with especially sharp increases in Japan. Putting aside for a moment the harm that does to a nation’s economy — people who fall into the ranks of the unemployed become destined to remain there — you should also think about the talented employees you may be missing, especially in countries where firms face a shortage of local talent, but still persist in discriminating based on employment or other factors.

The fact that someone has been out of work for an extended period does not automatically mean they are not talented enough for you, but if you set an arbitrary time limit, then that’s exactly what you are saying. If someone has been unemployed, you are better off finding out how they used that time, and then deciding if they have the skills you need.

For example, you may find they spent their time off playing video games. While that might give you lots to talk about with a candidate if you play games too, it might make you question their ability to work without lots of oversight. If, on the other hand, they have used that time to take classes, perform volunteer work that uses their particular talents, or do freelance work, then you know they have been keeping their skills up to date, plus they have shown initiative. For that matter, any learning they have done — related to their job or not — is a plus. They might end up being more impressive than someone who is currently employed and sitting in a role somewhere else. If you did not even consider them because of the amount of time they have been unemployed, you would never learn any of that.

When you are hiring, you are faced with a bit of a dilemma: you do not want to restrict your recruiting pool in such a way as to exclude some very talented candidates, but you also need to make your recruiting manageable, and if you have too many possibilities, you will never get your hiring done. The solution is to exclude people with criteria based on the talent they bring to your organization, and someone’s employment status does not tell you enough by itself.