Discrimination worsens after hiring
In a survey conducted late last year, Remote surveyed 1,250 hiring managers and business owners across the UK, US, Canada, Germany, and France to learn more about diversity and inclusion in the hiring process in 2022.
According to the research, 49% of job hunters have experienced discrimination during the hiring process for a new job. A further 52% said they had witnessed this sort of discrimination.
The survey looked at the percentage of employees that have experienced discrimination in the hiring process across the US, France, the UK, Germany, and Canada:
- United States – 56%
- France – 54%
- United Kingdom – 50%
- Germany – 48%
- Canada – 36%
Across all countries surveyed, the research revealed that discrimination occurs more against male applicants (52%) than female applicants (44%).
Young people (18-24) are the most vulnerable to, or observant of, workplace discrimination. Two-thirds (69.23%) of applicants in this age group have experienced discrimination in the hiring process.
The investigation also found that discrimination becomes more prevalent after the hiring process. Fifty-five percent of employees said they had experienced workplace discrimination, and 59% said they had witnessed it.
The survey looked at the percentage of employees that have experienced discrimination across the US, France, the UK, Germany, and Canada:
- United Kingdom – 59%
- Germany – 59%
- France – 55%
- United States – 54%
- Canada – 46%
When looking at the practices that organisations use to promote diversity and inclusion in their hiring processes, the survey found that the most popular offerings are:
- Offering workplace flexibility – 23%
- Acknowledging holidays of all cultures – 21%
- Providing awareness training and implementing diversity and inclusion policies for HR or People teams and hiring managers – 20%
- Implementing scorecards to support managing bias during the hiring process – 20%
- Advertising roles through new channels that target diverse candidates – 19%
Inclusive hiring practices are essential to the success of any organisation and influence their ability to attract and retain top talent, build a positive work environment, foster a rich company culture, improve productivity, and increase creativity and innovation.
By prioritising diversity and inclusion, organisations ensure they can take advantage of the workforce’s full potential and build a more inclusive environment.
On the other hand, without these practices, organisations risk missing out on sources of innovation and creativity.
Thirty-six percent of UK employers and hiring managers said that managing inequitable inclusion (the concept that diversity means different things to different people) is the biggest challenge.
Following this, 35% said that communication issues relating to language barriers, slang, colloquialisms, and cultural misunderstandings are challenging.
Time to train employees about different ways of thinking and approaching a scenario is the third most common challenge at 34%.
