最近的招聘广告都是这样暗中夹带“年龄歧视”的

    EEOC发言人约瑟夫•奥利瓦雷斯表示，尚未认定在招聘广告中使用“数字原生代”是否属于歧视行为。因为EEOC只有在收到求职者投诉后才能展开调查。但迄今为止，还没有出现过这样的投诉。

    Allyou.com和InStyle.com与《财富》杂志同属时代公司，约6个月前这两家公司发布的招聘广告中都提到了“数字原生代”。时代公司执行副总裁兼首席人力资源官格雷格•吉安格兰发表声明称：“如果看到这样的招聘广告，就意味着人事经理并不觉得有问题，也没认真想过会不会有问题。我们就不应该在招聘广告中使用这种说法。”（他还曾在媒体圈中表示，这个词一般代指“缺乏”最新数字技术和相关从业经验的人。）

    《财富》杂志联系了本文提到的所有公司，只有一家做出了回应。显然，在《财富》杂志提出询问后，StratusLIVE很快就撤下了广告，现在已经无迹可寻[最新进展：5月4日上午9点，《财富》杂志发现Zipcar也撤下了相关广告]。

    营销机构Inbound Marketing Agents联合创始人帕特•奥因斯对《财富》杂志表示，从去年开始在招聘广告中要求求职者为“数字原生代”。该公司网站显示，奥因斯的职责之一就是人力资源管理。他说，第一次在广告中看到这个字眼时，他对联合创始人兼首席执行官比尔•费思表示有点担心，但广告还是登了出去。奥因斯指出：“身为CEO，费思这样做有点草率，”而这正是奥因斯要离职的原因。

    奥因斯还说：“[比尔]一直想把模仿谷歌的公司氛围，办公室里有免费啤酒和点心，环境布置得很酷……很吸引年轻人。如果被起诉上了法庭，很显然他会声称自己口中的[数字原生代]是更广义的，他只是希望[求职者]都是懂技术的。话虽如此，他在实际工作中却一直努力组建80后员工团队。”

    据奥因斯介绍，除了他和费思，公司里只有一位员工超过30岁。目前，Inbound Marketing Agents有7名员工和5位承包商。

    比尔•费思的说法则截然不同，他说奥因斯“因为已经离开公司而心存不满”。费思称，他从未听到奥因斯对招聘广告中的“数字原生代”提出警告。他还表示不知道这个词与年龄或某一代人有关。

    费思说：“我觉得这个词在业内用得相当普遍。”他表示认为“数字原生代”主要指拥有数字领域的经验，与年龄并无直接关系。

    费思说：“我今年42岁，8岁时就有了第一台苹果电脑，所以我觉得自己也属于数字原生代，因为成年后的大部分时间里我都与数字技术相伴。”他还表示，“如果可能存在年龄歧视”，自“大概很可能”不会在招聘广告中一直这样说。

    《财富》杂志采访的劳动法律师都认为，使用该词可能让用人单位被指控年龄歧视。常驻加州棕榈泉的克里斯蒂•霍尔斯特格是一位民事权利律师和女权活动家。她说：“‘数字原生代’是个具有年代划分意味的词，不过我觉得将其作为应聘条件在法庭上站不住脚。大龄应聘者完全可以质疑这样的要求是隐性年龄歧视。鉴于在实际招聘时经常把年龄作为限制标准，这种行为是出于其他合理原因而不是年龄的说法不能成立。”

    不过，霍尔斯特格承认在法庭上证明存在年龄歧视很困难。她表示，尽管认为“在招聘广告里使用[数字原生代]并不明智”，但可想而知用人单位会在法庭上辩称，这个描述“是特指具备某些技能或资格”，而且“是胜任某些工作必备的条件”。

    著名劳动法律师事务所Outten & Golden合伙人安妮•戈尔登指出，如果原告掌握的证据只有一条招聘广告，“很可能希望不大”。不过她举例说，如果原告55岁，人事经理39岁而且只聘用二、三十岁的人又只解雇年龄较大的员工，法院就有可能受理。

    安妮表示，在类似官司中，“证明存在年龄歧视的难度要大于其他歧视行为”，特别是在2009年美国最高法院就格罗斯-FBL金融服务一案做出裁决后。在该案中，原告是时年54岁的前高管杰克•格罗斯，被告是格罗斯的工作单位——总部在爱荷华州的保险公司FBL金融服务。格罗斯的起诉理由是因为年龄歧视而遭降职。尽管在级别较低的法院打赢了官司，但最高法院裁定格罗斯败诉，依据是原告必须证明年龄歧视是“诱发”因素。而在此之前，只要怀疑原告被解雇或降职的原因是年龄歧视，就可认定原告主张有效。

    NAVEX Global的弗雷迪恩解释说，目前招聘广告中使用“数字原生代”没有引起重视很可能是因为人们并不确切了解该词的含义。用人单位也许只是泛指“热爱科技和各类社交媒体平台的人”。

    实际上，松下电器在招聘营销团队经理时也使用了这种说法，但具体要求是至少10年的“实际工作经验”，5年管理经验，5年数字领域经验，而且最好有MBA学位。35岁以下的求职者中能有多少符合全部要求？对于《财富》杂志的询问，松下未做出回应。

    弗雷迪恩说：“说不定会因此闹出点事。”他估计，招聘广告中的“这种说法很快就会受到密切关注”。

    此外，作为发明者，普连斯基已经表示不再用这个词，转而向推广“数字时代的智慧”观念。

    普连斯基在网站上是这样解释的：

    “‘数字移民’要注意，不能认为过去掌握的方法仍是最好的；而‘原生代’则要意识到，不管在科技还是生活方面还有许多东西要学。因此学会协作很重要，应该以相互尊重的方式寻找数字时代的智慧。”(财富中文网)

    本文作者薇薇安•江是一位自由撰稿人，报道范围涉及性别问题、领导力、创业、职场心理学以及一切有趣的工作和休闲话题。

    译者：Charlie

    审校：夏林

    。

    According to Joseph Olivares, a spokesperson for the EEOC, the agency has not taken a position on whether using the term “digital native” in an ad is discriminatory. But that’s only because job seekers need to file a complaint first before the EEOC can investigate. So far, none have been filed.

    All You and InStyle, which, like Fortune, are owned by Time Inc., each ran ads that used the term “digital native;” the ads were posted about six months ago. “If you found an ad, it was probably posted by a hiring manager who didn’t see it as a problem and didn’t bother getting it clear,” Greg Giangrande, Time Inc.’s Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, said in a statement. “It’s not a phrase that we use in our advertising.” (He also said that in media circles, the term is generally used as “short-hand” for people who have up-to-date digital skills and experience.)

    Fortune reached out to all of the employers mentioned in this article. Only one responded to requests for comment. StratusLIVE apparently took down the ad shortly after Fortune requested comment; the ad no longer exists on the web. [Update May 4, 9 am: Zipcar also apparently has taken its ad down.]

    Inbound Marketing Agents’ co-founder Pat Owings toldFortune that Inbound has been using the term “digital native” on its job ads since last year. Owings, whose job responsibilities include human resources, according to thecompany’s website, said that when he first saw the term in one of their ads, he expressed concerns to his co-founder and CEO Bill Faeth, but the ad was published anyway. “This sort of recklessness from the CEO,” he said, is exactly the reason why he is currently separating from the company.

    Owings added: “[Bill] has tried to create an organization that’s very Google-esque with the free beer and the free snacks and cool looking office space … that tends to attract a younger crowd. But obviously if he was called into court and put on the stand, he would say he was using [digital native] in a much more broad term, that he just wanted [applicants] to be technologically-savvy. That being said, he’s very focused on hiring a millennial workforce.”

    According to Owings, there’s only one other employee — aside from himself and Faeth — over the age of 30. There are currently seven employees and five contractors working at Inbound.

    Bill Faeth has a different story, describing Owings as “disgruntled because he is no longer part of the company.” He said he never received any warnings from Owings about using the term “digital native” on job ads. In fact, Faeth said he wasn’t aware that the term could be associated with age or a generation.

    “I think it’s a pretty common term that’s being utilized in our industry,” he said, adding he didn’t think the term had a correlation with age so much as digital experience.

    “I’m 42 years old and I had my first Apple when I was eight years old, so I would classify myself as a digital native just because I’ve used digital specifically for the majority of my adult life,” he said. He also said he “probably, possibly” won’t use the term in more ads “if there is potential for any kind of age discrimination.”

    The employment attorneys contacted by Fortune all argued that using the term leaves employers open to charges of age discrimination. Christy Holstege, a civil rights attorney and feminist activist in Palm Springs, California, said, “I don’t believe using ‘digital native,’ a generational term, as a job requirement would stand up in court. I think older individuals could definitely argue ‘digital native’ requirements are just a pretext for age discrimination. And since this employment practice uses age as a limiting criterion, the defense that the practice is justified by a reasonable factor other than age is unavailable.”

    Still, Holstege acknowledged proving age discrimination in a courtroom would be difficult. Holstege said that while she doesn’t think it’s “smart to put [digital native] in a job posting,” she can see employers arguing in court that the term “carries unique meaning as to certain skills or qualifications” and is “necessary to the normal operation of the particular business.”

    If the job posting is the only piece of evidence the plaintiff has, they’re “probably going to be out of luck,” said Anne Golden, a partner at prominent employment law firmOutten & Golden. But if, for example, the plaintiff is, say, 55, and the hiring manager is 39 years old and has only hired people in their 20s and 30s and only fired people who are older, then you’re starting to build a case that would be admissible in court, explained Golden.

    Age discrimination cases are “harder to prove than other kinds of discrimination,” she said, especially since a 2009 Supreme Court ruling. In Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Jack Gross, a 54-year-old former executive at the time he filed, sued his employer, Iowa-based insurance firm FBL Financial, for age discrimination when he was demoted. Despite winning in the lower courts, Gross lost his case in the Supreme Court, which ruled that plaintiffs have to prove that age discrimination was the “motivating” factor. Before Gross’ case, plaintiffs had a valid claim if they were fired or demoted on suspicions of age discrimination.

    The current lack of seriousness placed on using the term “digital native” in job ads, though, could very well be because people are ignorant of its definition, explained Fredeen. Employers may be using the term loosely to mean someone who is “really comfortable with technology and social media platforms.”

    In fact, Panasonic’s ad for a marketing group manager calls for a “digital native,” even while requiring that candidates have a minimum of 10 years professional “hands-on experience,” five years management experience, five years digital experience and preferably a MBA. How many candidates under the age of 35 would have all that experience? Panasonic didn’t respond to a request for comment.

    “Maybe there is a cautionary tale to tell,” Fredeen said, predicting this “kind of language” in job ads will come under “great scrutiny in the very near future.”

    In the meantime, the man who coined the phrase has backed off using the term altogether and instead evangelizes for what he calls “digital wisdom.”

    On his web site, Prensky explains:

    “Immigrants have to watch out for thinking the way they learned to do things is still the best way. Natives need to realize that they still have to learn many things about technology — and life. That is why it is important that we all learn to work together, with mutual respect, to find Digital Wisdom.”

    Vivian Giang is a freelance writer covering gender conversations, leadership, entrepreneurship, workplace psychology, and whatever else she finds interesting related to work and play.