STATISTICAL DISCRIMINATION AND EMPLOYERS' RECRUITMENT

ABSTRACT

This paper deals with the recruitment strategies of employers in the low-skilled segment of the labour market. We focus on low-skilled workers because they are overrepresented among jobless people and constitute the bulk of the clientele included in various activation and labour market programmes. A better understanding of the constraints and opportunities of interventions in this labour market segment may help improve their quality and effectiveness. On the basis of qualitative interviews with 41 employers in six European countries, we find that the traditional signals known to be used as statistical discrimination devices (old age, immigrant status and unemployment) play a somewhat reduced role, since these profiles are overrepresented among applicants for low skill positions. However, we find that other signals, mostly considered to be indicators of motivation, have a bigger impact in the selection process. These tend to concern the channel through which the contact with a prospective candidate is made. Unsolicited applications and recommendations from already employed workers emit a positive signal, whereas the fact of being referred by the public employment office is associated with the likelihood of lower motivation.

Keywords:

• statistical discrimination
• recruitment
• low-skill workers

Acknowledgements

The research on which this paper is based has been carried out in the context of the network of excellence RECWOWE (Reconciling work and welfare in Europe), funded under the EU framework 6 programme. We would like to thank project participants Christian Albrekt Larsen, Michel Berclaz, Nevenka Černigoj Sadar, Miroljub Ignjatović, Vera Messing, Jacob J. Pedersen, Katalin Tardos, Patrik Vesan, Valeria Sparano, A. Caroline Warfelmann, and Sabine Wichmann for making their interview data available and for comments on previous versions of this article.

Notes

¹Since not all employers answered all the questions, in some cases the number of respondents is lower than 41.

²Results from a survey among 1350 employers in Germany confirm this finding (Stettes 2009).