HIV-related stigma acting as predictors of unemployment of people living with HIV/AIDS

Abstract

Obtaining employment is an important part of recovery for many people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). However, this population often faces barriers in their attempt to reenter the workplace. One potential barrier lies in the decision-making of employers. Little is known about what influences employers’ decision to hire PLHA. The current paper addresses this gap with findings from 156 quantitative interviews with employers across Chicago, Beijing, and Hong Kong regarding the hiring of people with HIV/AIDS. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that both fear of contagion and perceived incompetence are important factors in employers’ decision to interview even after controlling for variables related to the employers’ business size, their education level, and the provision of health benefits. These two variables accounted for 42% of the variance in employers’ decision to interview. Implications of these findings are considered for better understanding of HIV-related employment stigma and further intervention for employing PLHA.

Keywords:

• HIV/AIDS
• stigma
• employment
• contagion
• incompetence

Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the US National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Mental Health, and Fogarty International Center (AA-014842-01). The work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (90924007), National 973 Foundation of China (2010CB731406).