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 Re: وشوقار دا شنو كمان!!!!!..... يحدث في السودان (Re: nahar osman nahar)
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دا الملخص الانجليزي بتاعا
رغم انو طويل شوية
Do employers prefer Mark over Mohammed?
A study of labour market discrimination against non-Western migrants
using situation testing
Summary, conclusions and implications for policy
1 Disadvantage on the labour market: a matter of human capital or
discrimination?
The purpose of the Discrimination Monitor of non-Western ethnic minorities on the labour market
(Discriminatiemonitor niet-westerse allochtonen op de arbeidsmarkt) is to shed more light on the
question of how big a factor discrimination is in explaining the disadvantage of migrant
groups on the labour market. The first edition of the Monitor was published in 2007.
Following a detailed literature review, the following definition of discrimination was
taken as a starting point in the Monitor: the unequal treatment of individuals because
they belong or are regarded as belonging to a particular group (Köbben 1985; Veenman
1990, 2003). Based on this definition, the main task of research into discrimination is to
distinguish selection based on characteristics that are relevant for the job in question
from selection where ethnic origin is the decisive factor. Experimental research is generally
regarded as the best method of determining whether discrimination is taking place.
The present study used ‘situation testing’ for this purpose. The aim of situation testing
is to establish whether two – fictitious – job applicants who are equally well qualified for
the position but are of different ethnic origin, have the same chance of being invited to
attend a job interview. The experimental design of this method ensures that other factors
that could lead to unequal treatment are ruled out, making it possible to determine
as purely as possible whether ethnic origin plays a role in the selection decision of the
employer. If there is no difference between the candidates in terms of the job requirements,
do employers still perceive a difference?
Although situation testing is able to detect evidence of discrimination, they cannot
establish the nature of that discrimination (unconscious and automatic or conscious and
controlled), nor which considerations led the employer to choose one candidate and not
the other. Other research methods are more suitable for this (see Andriessen et al. 2007;
Nievers et al. (forthcoming)).
2 Research using situation testing
Situation testing were carried out for this study by sending two #####alent job application
letters and also by applying for jobs on the telephone. The telephone applications
were for vacancies at the lower end of the labour market. This is in line with common
practice in this segment of the labour market, where direct contact with the employer is
a frequently used method of applying for jobs.
During the period May-December 2008, 1,342 valid tests were carried out, broken down
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into 1,142 correspondence tests and 200 telephone tests. The large size of the study
makes it possible to differentiate between personal and job characteristics. This in turn
makes it possible to ascertain whether there is any difference in the chance of being
invited for an interview between:
– non-Western immigrant and native Dutch applicants; men and women;
– different job levels (low, middle and high);
– different sectors ((health)care, hospitality industry, retail sector, financial services,
local authority);
– jobs with and without customer contact;
– candidates without, with some and with ample work experience;
– different migrant groups (Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese and Antillean origin).
Ideally, so many tests would be carried out that, by the end, all ethnic groups would have
applied for all types of job and in all sectors. However, this would have led to an unfeasibly
large number of tests (approx. 17,000). For this reason, members of ethnic groups and
men and women applied for a selection of jobs in a selection of sectors. Since the chance
of being invited for an interview varies per job and per sector, this was controlled for
later in the analysis. We shall return to this later, in the discussion of the results.
Within sectors and job levels, a selection of jobs was made so that it was possible to work
with standard application letters and cvs, which were tested for compatibility in advance.
This ruled out as far as possible the risk of a candidate’s rejection being due to the
quality of their application letter or cv. When writing the standard letters and cvs, attention
was paid to truthfulness (educational and work experience details had to be plausible)
and compatibility between the matched cvs and letters. To achieve this, the draft
standard cvs and application letters were submitted to a panel consisting of personnel
officers from business and local authorities, as well as recruiters from recruitment and
selection agencies. The panel members assessed the letters and cvs for their correctness,
appeal and compatibility. The cvs and letters were subsequently adjusted on the basis of
the information obtained from these panel discussions, so that #####alent cvs and letters
were obtained for each job applied for. For the telephone tests we used actors who
were trained to apply for jobs in a comparable, substantiated and realistic way (matched
to education level).
To ensure that the cvs did not have to be too long and detailed, the applicants in this
study were a maximum of 33 years old. A convincingly long cv would have to contain
details of several previous positions and employers, which would have made it more
difficult to compile two comparable cvs. Additionally, including the names of several
employers would increase the risk of discovery.
The fictitious job applicants had to be given names which could be easily recognised
by an employer as belonging to the ethnic group in question. An Internet search was
therefore carried out to elicit common Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese and Antillean
names. We assumed that common Surinamese and Antillean names are not always
recognised as such, and we therefore included places of birth outside the Netherlands in
the written tests, namely Paramaribo (Suriname) and Willemstad (Netherlands Antilles),
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respectively.
The cvs did however make it clear that the candidates had followed their
entire educational careers in the Netherlands. In the telephone tests, the Antillean and
Surinamese actors were instructed to adopt a slight accent, with the aim of making
the employer aware that they were Surinamese or Antillean applicants. The actors who
played Moroccan women and Turkish men spoke without an accent, but were trained to
pronounce their fictitious name with a clear Moroccan or Turkish accent.
Carrying out the tests
Suitable vacancies were sought mainly via job vacancy sites. Letters and cvs were allocated
randomly to native Dutch and non-Western applicants; in other words, there were no
specifically ‘native Dutch’ or ‘ethnic minority’ cvs. For the telephone tests, the order in
which calls were made and the cvs were alternated systematically between the actors in
order to rule out the possibility that different results could be due to the attractiveness
of a particular cv or to the order in which the native Dutch and non-Western applicants
made the telephone calls. A gap of at least one hour was left between calls for both fictitious
applicants.
Scope of the study
If a fictitious candidate was invited to attend a job interview, the offer was renounced as
quickly as possible. This was done in order to minimise the nuisance for employers. The
consequence of this was however that the study relates only to the first selection phase
and that it was not possible to establish who would ultimately have been offered the job.
Other research has however shown that the inequality between native and non-Western
job applicants in the first phase of the job application process does not disappear in
later phases. For example, a study by Bovenkerk et al. (1995) shows that the further non-
Western job applicants progressed in the selection procedure, the greater the inequality
in the chance of success increased between them and native Dutch job applicants. An
experiment in Sweden involving anonymous job applicants suggested that non-Western
job applicants had just as much chance of being invited for an interview as native Swedish
applicants, but that this positive effect disappears in later phases of the application
process, once employers and applicants actually meet face-to-face (Åslund & Nordström
Skans 2007).
It is some time since situation testing has been carried out in the Netherlands on this
scale; in terms of scale, the study by Bovenkerk et al. (1995) comes closest. While it demonstrated
unambiguously the presence of discrimination, that study is now more than
ten years old. As stated, situation testing are ideally suited for distinguishing selection
based on relevant productive characteristics from selection based on ethnic origin. The
latter is regarded as discrimination, whatever the motives underlying it. However, the
study we carried out also has its limitations. As stated above, the study relates to only
five sectors and the maximum age of the applicants was set at 33 years. The study thus
does not cover the entire labour market.
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3 Results: is there discrimination on the labour market?
The study produced two types of results. First, it made clear whether or not there are any
differences in the likelihood of being invited for a job interview between native Dutch
applicants and applicants of non-Western origin. The results of both the written and
telephone tests were used here; they form the heart of the study. A second outcome answers
the question of whether candidates of non-Western origin are treated differently
from native Dutch applicants; this information was drawn from the telephone tests.
Table S.1 presents the results for the differences in the chance of being invited for a job
interview, split into various categories. It should be noted that background characteristics
were as far as possible combined alternately in the research design, so that jobs with
and without customer contact occur in all sectors, and at all levels. The analysis then
controlled for these background characteristics, so that the results are stripped of their
influence. This means, for example, that the fact that a sector has more vacancies with
customer contact cannot explain differences found in discrimination between sectors.
3.1 Chance of being invited to attend a job interview
Job applicants of non-Western origin are invited less often than native Dutch applicants
Job applicants of non-Western origin have a significantly lower chance of being invited
to attend a job interview. In this study, 44% of native Dutch applicants were invited for
interview, compared with 37% of non-Western candidates. Non-Western applicants who
correspond exactly with native Dutch jobseekers in terms of their suitability for the job,
therefore still have less chance of being invited for an interview (7 percentage points,
#####alent to a 16% lower chance). At the same time, this study showed that where
non-Western jobseekers match the job profile and are able to submit a good letter and
appropriate cv, they too are frequently – in more than a third of cases – invited for a job
interview.
Table S.1 expresses the result of the tests as the difference between the percentages of
native Dutch and non-Western job applicants who were invited for interview. The difference
score for the entire group of non-Western and native Dutch applicants is 7 percentage
points. The influence of other factors on the difference scores presented was
eliminated using multivariate analyses.
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Table S.1
Difference in percentage of non-Western migrants and native Dutch who were invited for a job interview,
total and by a number of background and job characteristics, 2009 (in percentage points)a
difference non-Western migrants and native Dutch
total -7
men -9
women -5
job level
low -8
middle -9
high -3
sector
(health)care -6
financial services -6
hospitality industry -11
local authority -3*
retail -10
work experience
starter -4
more experience -6
most experience -9
customer contact
jobs without customer contact -5
jobs with customer contact -9
a Percentage of non-Western migrants invited for interview less percentage of native Dutch applicants
invited.
* difference is not significant.
Source: SCP
Non-Western men more often affected by discrimination than non-Western women
This study shows that the difference in the likelihood of being invited for an interview is
smaller between non-Western and native Dutch women than between non-Western and
native Dutch men. This is in line with the findings of earlier research (see Discrimination
Monitor (Discriminatiemonitor) 2007 (Andriessen et al. 2007) for own analyses and an overview
of other studies). The findings can be related to the social dominance theory, which
predicts that there will be more negative perceptions of non-Western men than of non-
Western women.
Discrimination especially in lower and middle-ranking jobs
Many non-Western migrants rely mostly on lower-skilled jobs because of their lower
average educational level. This study shows that discrimination manifests itself more
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in lower and middle-ranking jobs. In those segments of the labour market where many
non-Western migrants are looking for work, there are large differences in the chance of
being invited for an interview. Why this is so is not clear. In higher-level jobs, non-Western
applicants have almost the same chance of being invited for an interview as native
Dutch applicants. This corresponds with earlier research in the Netherlands (Büyükbozkoyum
et al. 1991; Bovenkerk et al. 1995; Andriessen et al. 2007; Altintas et al. 2009).
Hospitality industry and retail sector score badly; little discrimination in local
government
The hospitality industry and retail sector – which account for large parts of the service
sector – are most likely to reject non-Western job applicants; the difference between
the percentage of native Dutch and non-Western applicants being invited for interviews
is no less than 11 and 10 percentage points, respectively, in the two sectors. This is not
because these sectors have a higher proportion of jobs involving customer contact:
this was statistically controlled for in the analyses. When it comes to local government
jobs, the difference between native Dutch and non-Western applicants is not statistically
significant. The scores for the financial services and (health)care sectors are nearly
the same; in these sectors, too, non-Western job applicants are at a disadvantage, with
a statistically significant difference of 6 percentage points compared with native Dutch
applicants.
No significant difference in discrimination between starters and more experienced
applicants
The difference scores shown in table S.1 for discrimination against starters and more
experienced applicants are not significant. There is thus no difference in the degree of
discrimination between the three categories of applicants. Starters are however invited
less often for interviews than applicants with more experience (not shown in table).
Discrimination more frequent in jobs involving customer contact
International research has highlighted the significance of customer discrimination. This
means that employers prefer not to take on members of ethnic minorities for jobs
involving customer contact, based on an assumption that this will put customers off.
To investigate this, a distinction was drawn in this study between jobs with and without
customer contact. Customer discrimination was found to exist in the Netherlands,
too: in jobs with customer contact there was a bigger difference between non-Western
migrants and native Dutch applicants in the percentage of candidates invited for interview
than for jobs without customer contact.
Minor differences between different non-Western groups
As stated earlier, non-Western groups applied for different types of job, and differences
were found in the chance of being invited for an interview per jobtype. We therefore
compared the outcomes for various non-Western groups with those for native Dutch
candidates who had applied for the same jobs. Table S.2 shows the results.
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Table S.2
Difference in percentage of non-Western migrants and native Dutch applicants invited for a job interview
(matched to job), 2009 (in percentage points)
Moroccan Dutch −5
Turkish Dutch −7
Surinamese Dutch −8
Antillean Dutch −7
Source: SCP
Overall, the differences between the migrant groups studied here are not large. Contrary
to expectations, Moroccan Dutch citizens do not occupy the lowest position in the
ranking for migrant groups. This is striking, because other research generally shows
that Dutch citizens of Moroccan origin are confronted the most with discrimination (as
evidenced among other things from decomposition analyses, inventories of complaints
lodged with antidiscrimination bureaus, research among employers to ascertain their
perceptions of labour performance and their willingness to employ people from migrant
groups; for an overview, see Andriessen et al. 2007). In addition on the basis of the
research cited, we expected to find a a more favourable result for the Surinamese group
than obtained in this study.
There are several possible explanations for the unexpected findings for applicants of
Moroccan origin. The first explanation could be that Moroccan Dutch citizens are quite
simply less often the victims of discrimination than is assumed. Based on this study,
this possibility can in any event not be ruled out, even though there is plenty of other
research which suggests the opposite.
Another possible explanation could lie in the jobs for which the different migrant groups
applied. It is possible that precisely the jobs for which candidates of Moroccan origin
applied offered relatively good opportunities for members of this group (e.g. because
of affirmative action policy, knowledge of the Moroccan population group as a positive
condition for performing the job).
Yet another explanation could be sought in subtyping: when someone deviates widely
from the prevailing perception of a group, they are not regarded as being a member of
that group, but constitute their own type. The applicants in this study were all motivated,
held the right papers and had an excellent application letter and cv. It is possible
that as a result of this, employers did not apply the unfavourable image that exists of the
Moroccan group to these applicants, but by contrast were prompted to invite them for
interview.
Finally, the fact that the cvs of the Surinamese and Antillean applicants stated their place
of birth as Paramaribo and Willemstad, respectively, might explain the unexpected
ranking of the migrant groups because it may have caused employers to recognise these
candidates as ‘immigrants’ more often than the Turkish and Moroccan applicants. It
is also possible that employers suspected that they were dealing with first-generation
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Surinamese
and Antillean migrants, even though the cvs showed that both their school
and professional careers had taken place in the Netherlands.
3.2 Difference in treatment
Some of the tests (n = 200) were carried out by telephone. This makes it possible to say
something about the way in which native Dutch and non-Western applicants were treated
by employers during direct contact. During the telephone tests, two researchers
and the participating actors completed a score sheet covering different aspects of the
way in which the employer spoke to the candidate. The results showed that, broadly
speaking, employers behaved in a correct manner and that the conversations proceeded
amicably. No examples of open and blatant discrimination (e.g. insults, name-calling)
were observed in this study. Nonetheless, consistent differences to the disadvantage
of non-Western applicants were observed on the different aspects. Table S.3 provides a
summary.
Table S.3
Opinion on how candidates were treated during telephone conversation with employer, 2009 (in average
scores on a five-point scale)
non-Western native Dutch
general opinion
(1 = very unpleasant, 5 = very pleasant)
3.8 4.1
tone of conversation
(1 = very unfriendly, 5 = very friendly)
4.0 4.2
interest shown in applicant
(1 = very little, 5 = a great deal)
3.2 3.5
employer discouraged applicant
(1 = agree completely, 5 = disagree completely)
3.9 4.2
Source: SCP
The scores for the way in which applicants were treated are fairly high, suggesting that
the telephone contacts between employers and applicants generally proceeded pleasantly.
Nonetheless, there is a statistically significant difference which always works to the
disadvantage of non-Western migrants. This correlates with the fact that non-Western
applicants failed to secure an invitation for an interview more often than native Dutch
applicants. Where the applicant was rejected, the tone of conversation rapidly became
less pleasant and friendly than where the applicant was invited for an interview.
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4 How serious a problem is discrimination on the Dutch labour
market?
This study shows that there is discrimination on the Dutch labour market. Members
of non-Western ethnic minorities who differ from the native Dutch population only
in their name and – in the case of applicants of Surinamese and Antillean origin –
place of birth are less likely to be invited to attend a job interview. Broadly speaking,
job applicants of non-Western and native Dutch origin are treated correctly, but the
admittedly minor differences that are found do always operate to the disadvantage of the
non-Western
applicants.
Although this study suggests discrimination, it also raises a question regarding an
assessment of the seriousness of the outcomes. To a certain degree, both statements are
defensible.
This study shows unambiguously that migrants with a good application letter and suitable
cv are frequently invited to attend a job interview; in the period studied, no fewer
than 37% of applicants were invited. Investing in human capital – and in a good application
letter – clearly pays. In addition, non-Western applicants are generally treated in a
correct and friendly way. Explicit and blatant forms of discrimination were not found in
this study.
Offsetting this positive picture are the study findings which suggest that employers
create a difference where none exists: equal applicants are treated unequally. Association
with a non-Western group is evidently sufficient reason for some employers not to
invite the applicant in question for an interview. These applicants are people with the
right profile for the job in question, a substantiated application letter and an excellent
cv. Apart from their names, these fictitious applicants could not have been more ‘native
Dutch’: their school and work careers had taken place in the Netherlands and employers
were able to see from their letters and/or telephone calls that they had an excellent
command of the Dutch language. Despite this, having a foreign-sounding name was
found to be a reason not to invite someone for an interview. This effect appears to be
reinforced where a foreign place of birth was given, at least based on the fairly surprising
position occupied by the Surinamese applicants in the ranking of the different migrant
groups. It is not difficult to guess what the consequences might be if the application
letter were to show that the applicant had moved to the Netherlands in later life, if the
letter contained one or more language errors or if the applicant could be heard to have a
clear foreign accent during a telephone conversation.
Another reason for taking the observed discrimination seriously is that the research
findings are very probably an underestimate of the extent to which discrimination
occurs on the labour market. The study was restricted to the first phase of the job application
procedure, whereas there are indications that the inequality increases in the later
stages. In addition, most of the study was carried out in a period of strong economic
growth (between May and the end of 2008). Even in periods when there is a squeeze on
the labour market, therefore, members of migrant groups do not have the same oppor-
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tunities as native Dutch job applicants. Of the sectors studied, the hospitality and retail
sectors performed worst in this regard; migrant groups barely get a foot in the door in
these sectors, even where they were born and raised in the Netherlands, have a good
command of the Dutch language and have obtained their qualifications in the Netherlands.
A further worrying aspect is that the opportunities for migrant groups at the
bottom end of the labour market are relatively poor; many migrants – who often have
weaker qualifications and a poorer command of the Dutch language than the applicants
in this study – are forced to rely on this segment of the labour market.
Human capital is thus not the whole story; particularly in certain segments and sectors
of the labour market, non-Western applicants more often come off worst. Being associated
with a migrant group means having fewer opportunities on the labour market. Even
in the most favourable circumstances – having the right profile, writing a substantiated
application letter and applying in a time of economic prosperity – members of minority
groups have more difficulty finding a job than native Dutch applicants. On top of this,
there are some specific sectors (retail, hospitality) where the difference in the chance of
being invited for an interview is greater than in other sectors, while it is also the case
that discrimination is particularly prevalent at the bottom end of the labour market.
Employers thus draw a distinction based on the applicant’s ethnic origin. This study
provides indications that ‘customer discrimination ‘(in jobs with customer contact) is a
reason for some employers to make a distinction based on ethnic origin. The position of
migrant women is relatively favourable, suggesting that they enjoy a better image than
migrant men.
However, the use of situation testing provides no insight into the precise thought processes
of employers. Economic theory suggests a number of explanations. The first is
that employers have a ‘taste for discrimination’: they simply do not want members of a
different ethnic group. This aversion could also be related to the assumption that customers
have an aversion to minority groups (‘customer discrimination’).
Another explanation is statistical discrimination. This means that people form an
opinion about individual members of groups based on perceptions they have of those
groups as a whole. Since the image of migrant groups is often an unfavourable one
(e.g. heavily represented in crime statistics, causing nuisance), this contributes to an
unfavourable opinion of individual migrants. People may for example be afraid of lower
productivity or a higher risk that the applicant will not fit in with the rest of the staff. In a
situation where information is incomplete, as is almost always the case when a selection
decision is taken, employers are then more often likely to choose someone from their
own ethnic group. The implicit assumption is that they are able to make a more accurate
assessment of the qualities of someone from their own group, thus reducing the risk of
failure.
Which motives determine the result of this study, and to what extent, is therefore not
possible to say. A survey of employers is currently being carried out for the Discrimination
Monitor; the first findings appear to suggest that unfavourable group perceptions
are much more important for the non-selection of members of non-Western minorities
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than manifest aversion. The same picture emerges from the telephone tests carried out
for this study: the conversations with non-Western applicants were slightly less pleasant,
but the differences are not large, and no examples of flagrant, open discrimination were
observed. We therefore draw the tentative conclusion that discrimination is inspired
predominantly by an assessment of the potential risks of taking on a non-Western
migrant. This assessment is – probably – based on things such as uncertainty about productivity,
presumed resistance on the part of customers and other staff and a higher risk
of dropout. The consequence is that employers – consciously or unconsciously – prefer
to employ someone from their own ethnic group.
5 Pointers for policy
We began this summary with the question of whether disadvantage on the labour market
was a matter of human capital or discrimination. This study shows that both are
important. Good qualifications, an error-free and substantiated application letter and a
suitable cv are likely to result in a job interview for members of minority groups, though
the chances of non-Western and native Dutch applicants are not equal. The importance
of human capital for the employment chances of minorities only acquires more
emphasis in today’s weakened labour market, which puts migrant groups, and especially
younger and less well-educated members of those groups, at an even further disadvantage
(see box 1).
Box 1 Rapidly rising unemployment among migrant groups
The unemployment rate among migrant groups has been rising since the third quarter of 2008.
Unemployment is rising particularly quickly among the young and low-skilled; in the second quarter
of 2009, 21% of young (15-24 years) non-Western migrants were unemployed, compared with 10% of
their native Dutch peers. The unemployment rate among lower-skilled non-Western migrants is 14%,
compared with 6% for their native Dutch counterparts (Dagevos 2009). A labour market in which there
is an ample supply of available labour opens the way for more stringent selection and more discrimination,
pushing migrant groups further towards the back of the queue. This has occurred in previous
economic cycles, and there is no reason to suppose that it will be any different this time around.
Investing in training is thus very important (see also the advisory report by the Social
and Economic Council of the Netherlands (ser) (‘Not the past but the future’ (Niet de
afkomst maar de toekomst), 2007). The productivity of jobseekers from ethnic minorities
must be adequate, so that this does not provide a reason for employers to reject them.
The same applies for command of the Dutch language. An investment by members of
ethnic minority groups in training and Dutch language skills is not only a productivity
characteristic, but also sends a signal to employers about their motivation and commitment
(Spence 1973).
This study highlights the importance of a good application. Writing a good application
letter which is appropriate for the job in question, in combination with having the
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right skills, often leads to an invitation for an interview, including for non-Western jobseekers.
The same can be said on the basis of the telephone tests; if an applicant prepares
for the job requirements and speaks to the employer in a correct and friendly manner,
this is followed in the vast majority of cases by a normal conversation. Learning to apply
for jobs is probably a good way of increasing the job opportunities of non-Western jobseekers.
Attention could also be given to the importance of perseverance; as this study
shows, non-Western jobseekers need to apply for jobs more often than native Dutch
jobseekers in order to be invited for interview.
In addition to policy aimed at the labour supply, this study also suggests a need to develop
policy aimed at the demand side of the market, i.e. employers. As this study shows,
for some employers the ethnic origin of job applicants played a role in their selection
behaviour, and this has an adverse effect on the chances of non-Western groups finding
a job. It is also important to realise that ‘indirect discrimination’ was left out of consideration
in the situation testing conducted here; this refers to situations in the recruitment
and selection process which have the unintended effect of putting non-Western
groups at a disadvantage. Familiar examples of this are psychological tests which are
not culture-neutral, the use of recruitment channels by employers which are not or not
widely used by non-Western jobseekers, and cultural differences that emerge during job
interviews and which stand in the way of an adequate assessment of a non-Western applicant.
Research suggests that this also results in non-Western migrants with the same
labour market qualifications as native Dutch applicants having less chance of success in
finding work.
Several pointers emerge for policy that is directed towards reducing unequal opportunities
for migrants. It would seem that much of the disadvantage of these groups is related
to statistical discrimination: predominantly unfavourable group perceptions mean that
the productivity of individual members of the group in question is assessed as being
lower. Policy that contributes to helping employers realise that their selection behaviour
is not ethnically neutral could help in the development of selection tools that leads to
more equal opportunities. More generally, labour organisations could investigate which
factors, through direct and indirect discrimination, stand in the way of non-Western migrants
obtaining jobs. Targeted policy would then be needed to remove these obstacles.
In the current weak economic climate, companies could also be alert to the ethnic profile
of the employees who leave their employment. The findings of this study could (or perhaps
should) lead to the formulation of specific plans in relatively poorly scoring sectors
such as the retail and hospitality industries aimed at combating discrimination. In sectors
where few non-Western migrants are employed, measures could be taken to increase
their share in the workforce. The government could support such plans, for example by
asking benefits agencies to adopt an active policy of putting forward non-Western jobseekers
to employers who intend to recruit more people from those groups (cf. the sme
covenant from a few years ago). The Minister could actively remind employers of their
responsibility, preferably supported by tangible agreements (as happened some years ago
in the Framework Agreement for large corporations (Raamconvenant grote ondernemingen).
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