最近的招聘广告都是这样暗中夹带“年龄歧视”的
|
2007年，22岁的Facebook首席执行官马克•扎克伯格在一次大会发言时抛出了“年轻人就是更聪明”的著名“论断”。2013年，Facebook因发布“优先考虑2007或2008届毕业生”的招聘广告而遭到加州公平就业与住房局起诉，双方最终庭外和解。 苹果公司、雅虎、Dropbox以及视频游戏公司艺电都曾在招聘新员工时都曾表示优先考虑“应届毕业生”。 但最近，这样的字眼不再流行，一个古怪的新词开始生根发芽。用人单位都在招聘“数字原生代”，特别是媒体、广告和科技公司。 《财富》杂志在求职网站Indeed.com上简单搜索了一下，发现了几十条将“数字原生代”作为聘用条件的广告，发布方既有知名媒体巨头，也有大大小小的初创企业。 • 总部设在弗吉尼亚州弗吉尼亚海滩的软件解决方案供应商StratusLIVE正在招客户拓展专员。招聘广告称，“理想的求职者必须是数字原生代”，能迅速适应新技术。 • 汽车共享公司Zipcar在招聘创意及品牌营销总监的广告中称，求职者“必须成功领导过创意工作，还必须是数字原生代”，而且“数字原生代”属于“最低”要求。 • 报业巨头甘尼特集团旗下设在华盛顿的子公司CBS招聘时，也指名要数字原生代。 • 隶属营销巨头电扬旗下的广告机构伟门在招聘项目经理，基本要求包括 “数字原生代”以及具备“现有及新生数字平台”工作经验。 那么问题来了，这个词意味着什么？《财富》杂志采访的三位劳动法律师表示，这就是一种隐性年龄歧视，当前趋势令人担心。 NAVEX Global为大公司提供企业伦理与合规服务。该公司律师兼副总裁英格里德•弗雷迪恩说：“我很不喜欢‘数字原生代’这种说法。对应聘者做出这样的限制可能会有风险，因为隐含着对年龄的强调，这是个内涵非常丰富的词。”她还指出，在公开招聘广告中要求“数字原生代”才能应聘“会引发质疑，而且可能惹麻烦”，因为这种说法意味着“只有年轻人才能申请该职位。” 马克•普连斯基在2001年的一篇论文中首创“数字原生代”这个词。他对这类人群的定义是出生于数字时代到来的过程中或者开始后，也就是说他们的成长经历充满了科技元素，计算机和互联网数字语言就是他们的“母语”。普连斯基指出，与“原生代”对应的是年龄较大的“数字移民”，而且“像所有移民一样，‘数字移民’也要学着适应环境，当中有些人学得好一些，有些差一些。”但他们“一定会有‘口音’，也就是过往的印记”。 从20世纪90年代的网络热潮开始，许多用人单位都在招聘懂技术的年轻人才，认为这是在数字经济时代成功的必要条件。与此同时，美国公平就业机会委员会提供的数据显示，针对年龄歧视的投诉呈螺旋上升态势。1997年此类投诉出现了15785次，2014年达到20588次。去年，EEOC以发布歧视性广告为由起诉了121公司，其中111家都存在歧视大龄求职者的现象。 EEOC表示，在招聘广告中使用“大学生”、“大学刚毕业”或者“年轻血液”等词违反了1966年制定的美国《反就业年龄歧视法》。这项法律旨在保护40岁及以上的员工免受年龄歧视。 那么，使用类似“数字原生代”的具有年代划分意味的词，是不是就为了拒绝40岁以上的求职者呢？ |
“Young people are just smarter,” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, famously said on a conference stage in 2007 when he was 22. In 2013, Facebook settled alawsuit with California’s Fair Employment and Housing Department for posting an employment ad that stated “Class of 2007 or 2008 preferred.” Apple, Yahoo, Dropbox, and video game maker Electronic Arts all have listed openings with “new grad” as a preference. Lately, though, that language has fallen out of favor, and a curious, new phrase has taken root. Employers, especially in the media, advertising and tech industries, have begun advertising for “digital natives.” Fortune did a simple search in Indeed.com and found dozens of listings, including from both established media giants and startups of all sizes, in which being a “digital native” is listed as a requirement. • Virginia Beach, VA-based software solutions firm, StratusLIVE, is currently seeking a lead generation specialist to join its team and according to its ad, the “ideal candidate must be a digital native” who adapts quickly to new technologies. • Zipcar, the car-sharing service, posted an ad for a director of creative and brand marketing and says this person “will be a proven creative leader and digital native.” Being a digital native also is on its list of “minimum” job requirements. • The Gannett-owned CBS TV affiliate in Washington D.C.notes in its ad that it is looking to hire digital natives. • In a posting for a project manager, advertising agency Wunderman, which is part of marketing giant Young & Rubicam Brands, listed as the top requirement being “a digital native” experienced in “existing and emerging digital platforms.” The question is, what does the term mean? Three employment attorneys contacted by Fortune said the trend was troubling and argued it was a veiled form of age discrimination. “The term ‘digital natives’ makes me cringe,” said Ingrid Fredeen, an attorney and vice president of NAVEX Global, which provides ethics and compliance programs to large organizations. “This is a very risky area because we’re using the term that has connotations associated with it that are very age-based. It’s kind of a loaded term.” Posting a job ad calling for “digital natives,” she added, is “really challenging and problematic” because it implies that “only young applicants need to apply.” Author Marc Prensky has been credited with having coined the term “digital native” in a 2001 essay; he defined a digital native as someone born during or after the start of the digital world, meaning they grew up immersed in technologies and are “native speakers” of the digital language of computers and the Internet. In contrast, Prensky noted, the older “digital immigrants learn — like all immigrants, some better than others — to adapt to their environment” but they always retain their “‘accent,’ that is their foot in the past.” Since the 1990s dotcom boom, many employers have openly sought to hire young, tech savvy talent, believing that was necessary to succeed in the new digital economy. At the same time, age discrimination complaints have spiraled upward, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), with 15,785 claims filed in 1997 compared to 20,588 filed in 2014. Out of the 121 charges filed last year by the EEOC for alleged discriminatory advertising, 111 of them claimed the job postings discriminated against older applicants. The EEOC has said that using phrases like “college student,” “recent college graduate,” or “young blood” violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1966 (ADEA). That federal law protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older from employment discrimination based on age. Is using a generational term like “digital native” just another way of excluding over-40 job candidates? |
