EMPR 200 – Current Event Blog

Hello readers,

Today’s blog post is about a widely discussed issue, automated hiring. The current problem at hand revolves around the automated hiring system that is done using algorithms. There has been a debate for many years as to whether this system is beneficial or not. In recent years, studies have concluded that this new system is discriminatory in its screening of applicants. A report in the New York Times concludes that this system may make discrimination in the workplace worse as opposed to better. The algorithms used in this system create advertisements that target certain individuals to apply to specific jobs and use data from those hired to create new advertisements which continue to target the same types of applicants. This further reinforces the discriminatory aspects of the new hiring system.

This problem that we are facing has an impact on both the companies looking for new hires as well as the prospective applicants. Companies opt to use this method as they believe that it is more convenient and that algorithms are less biased than humans. The companies may view this as less severe of a problem than the applicants would. Given that they would receive similar applicants every time may be seen as beneficial to the company as they would be able to ensure their applicants are the most qualified and have the skills that are necessary for the job. The applicants may view this system as extremely problematic as they are stripped of the chance to prove themselves during the hiring process. Additionally, this system’s discriminatory features pose a major concern given that some systems provide areas for the screening against older applicants, non-white American applicants, and many others. These problems with the new automated hiring system negatively impacts work and employment relations as it eliminates diversity in the workplace by constantly attracting similar applicants. It isolates applicants and creates inequality as it is not inclusive to all prospective applicants.

In order to address this issue, a solution could include a blind screening process. This process takes applicants resumes and removes any indicators of gender, race, ethnicity, age, etc. Once this blind screening is complete, the resume can be send to the employer to review and decide if the applicant will be invited to an interview that can take place either online or in person. This will help to eliminate any bias or discrimination in the hiring process.

Further information that would be beneficial in understanding more about the study on automated hiring includes what filters are made available to the company that then generate the algorithms for automated hiring. Knowing this information could open the possibility of a new solution in changing the screening options made available to companies.

If anyone has any thoughts on this issue and any potential solutions I would love to hear!

Links:

https://hbr.org/2013/12/we-can-now-automate-hiring-is-that-good