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Age discriminationCriminal recordsEquality, diversity and inclusionDisabilityEarly careers

Applicants from disadvantaged groups overlooked by employers

by Laura Chamberlain 22 Dec 2010
by Laura Chamberlain 22 Dec 2010

Three quarters of employers haven’t hired from disadvantaged groups, such as young people without qualifications, ex-offenders or older workers, in the last three years.

This is according to research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and professional services firm KPMG, which also found that one third of employers actively exclude some disadvantaged groups from their recruitment process.

However, this was an improvement on a previous CIPD survey in 2005, which found that 62% of companies did not consider applications from one or more of the disadvantaged groups.

Ex-offenders were the most likely to have their applications turned down, with nearly one fifth (19%) of employers excluding applications from this group.

Applications from young people aged 18 and under with few or no qualifications were not considered by 16% of companies, and employers considered this group to be the worst performing.

However, the research also found that a third of employers would be more likely to recruit from these groups if the Government did more to improve their employability, such as co-funding paid internships.

Gerwyn Davies, CIPD public policy adviser, said: “Employer reluctance to recruit from groups who have faced barriers to employment shows that the Government still faces a huge challenge in getting more economically inactive benefit claimants – especially those with a criminal record – off welfare and into work.”

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He added that the extent of exclusion was not always justified by the potential of the target group and employers with experience employing ex-offenders consider them to be as productive as other workers and, in some cases, more loyal than the rest of the workforce.

XpertHR FAQs on recruiting disadvantaged groups

  • What can an employer do if it is concerned about the costs of making reasonable adjustments that would enable it to recruit a disabled person?
  • Is it unlawful for an employer to ask on an application form whether a candidate has a disability?
  • Can an employer refuse to employ a candidate with a spent conviction?
  • Do children and young persons have the same employment rights as people over 18?

Laura Chamberlain

previous post
Christmas and New Year looking bleak for long-term unemployed, says TUC
next post
National minimum wage amendment in place from January 1

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