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Britain to introduce name-blind job applications to tackle hiring discrimination

Xinhua, October 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Britain's civil service, government organizations and private firms, which together employ 1.8 million people in the country, pledged Monday to tackle hiring discrimination by introducing name-blind job applications.

In the first mass scheme of its kind, names will not be visible on graduate recruitment applications.

The announcement follows Prime Minister David Cameron's keynote speech at this year's Conservative Party conference where he cited research showing that people with white-sounding names were nearly twice as likely to get job call-backs than people with ethnic-sounding names.

Among the graduate employers from across the public and private sector to commit to this new scheme is the banking group HSBC, Deloitte, KPMG, Virgin Money as well as Britain's National Health Service, local government and the civil service.

Cameron said in a statement issued by 10 Downing Street: "I said in my conference speech that I want us to end discrimination and finish the fight for real equality in our country. Today we are delivering on that commitment and extending opportunity to all. If you've got the grades, the skills and the determination, this government will ensure that you can succeed."

The Civil Service said it would introduce name-blind recruitment for all roles below the most senior level.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said it would be promoting name-blind hiring and working towards embedding this as standard through training and development courses. The institute said it hoped this would mean name-blind job applications spreading more widely throughout the private sector.

David Sproul, chief executive of Deloitte, said: "We want to show that everyone can thrive, develop and succeed based on their talent, regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or any other dimension that can be used to differentiate people from one another," adding that the name-blind recruitment process would help prevent unconscious bias. Endit