Say no to discriminations in job market

The Ministry of Human Resources launched a campaign on July 23, promoting employment among those who graduated in 2023 and other young people. One feature of the campaign that attracted wide attention was the focus on eliminating job discrimination.

Although labor laws have improved, the job market still sees discrimination, albeit in a more hidden way. For example, some companies discriminate against women job applicants but without directly saying so. Instead, they simply deby them jobs saying they are "not suitable for the job" or something. Another problem is discrimination on the basis of age. Many companies accept applications from those aged 35 or above, but never once look at the application.

There are many reasons for such discrimination, from imbalance in the job market that enables companies to pick applicants as per their whim, to a lack of relevant policies assuring women pregnancy leaves. Some companies just avoid hiring women workers fearing they will have to foot the social security bill when they get pregnant.

Various measures can be taken to end such discriminatory practices. First, the labor and relevant laws need to be strengthened, and anti-discriminatory clauses added, so that there are no loopholes that companies can exploit. For example, unless it hires people for heavy labor work, a company employing too many males needs the labor department's attention.

Besides, the costs of raising a family need to be shared by the entire society, not just the employee and the company. For example, various levels of local governments can accelerate the construction of kindergartens and child-care nurseries so that their children are taken care of when their parents go to work.

Discrimination harms the whole job market and it requires the efforts of the whole society to resolve it.