Massive Discrimination Taints Argentina's Job Market
Anyone who has looked for a job in Argentina knows that discrimination is rampant in the labor market. Companies across the board engage in all kinds of gender, age, and aesthetic discrimination. Many employers discriminate against candidates based on their marital or parental status. Classified ads typically contain qualifiers such as this: ”Attractive Female Age 18-28″ or “Sales Associate, Good Looking, Up To 35 Years.”
In rare cases, such discrimination can be justified and is even desirable. If an advertising agency needs to shoot a commercial, it can and should be able to cast actors or models “who fit the part.” Meanwhile, an airline, for very good reasons, can discriminate against pilots who don't qualify physically or mentally for the job. Would you want a blind man flying your plane? Would you want a woman with shaky hands operating on your frontal lobe?
Clearly, discrimination is necessary in some cases.
But in most cases broad-based discrimination is neither necessary nor justifiable. An average-looking but capable 84-year-old surely is just as qualified to work at a bookstore as is an attractive 24-year-old university student. Do all three of the receptionists in my office building really need to be atractive and in their mid-twenties?
Argentines typically apply for jobs by submitting resumes that include a photo and other personal information like their date of birth and marital status. Why? Including a photo seems like an open invitation to potential discrimination. (“Ooh, that one's rat ugly, dude. I'm not interviewin' her.”) The same is true of age and marital status. Here's a classified ad being run now on the newspaper Clarin's site:
CADETA / ADMINISTRATIVA P/COOP DE CREDITO en Cap Fed Sexo: femenino. 25 a 35 años. Excel presencia y disp.horaria. C/ exper en trámites bancarios y ma- nejo de PC. Con refer y viva en Capital. Enviar CV c/foto y pret a: empleada2009@hotmail.com
Here the employer, some kind of credit cooperative, is looking for a “female, aged 25-35 with excellent presence.” In this ad alone, the employer is engaging in age, gender and aesthetic descrmination. Is it necessary? Hardly. The job is for an administrative assistant, someone who can do paperwork, cut through red tape, answer the phone, and run other banking errands. Could a 36-year-old male do this? Of course. How about an ugly, zit-faced, fatso? Surely.
On Thursday, the National Institute Against Discrimination, Exenphobia, and Racisim ( INADI) decided to do something to about all of this. The institute's president, María José Lubertino, held a press conference at the Interior Ministry to highlight these problems and call on the country to “respect equality under the law and the principle of non-descrimination in the labor market.”
Lubertino presented the results of an INADI study that confirmed the prevelance of job market discrimination. According to the study, which looked at 3,668 classified ads, around 54% of the ads descriminated against candidates based on gender. Another 22% descriminated by age. “Those most affected are people who are over 40,” according to INADI. That means 76% of advertised job openings are available only to people who are just the right age and gender.
INADI put out a statement saying the following:
“In light of the study, the institute will present recommendations aimed at ensuring that job offers don't include preferences for gender, age, appearence, nationality, residency, social condition, marital status or any other type of condition that may be unreasonable…”
Let's hope INADI's work doesn't fall upon deaf ears.
Oh, and by the way, you can see Lubertino's resume online at INADI's website. It includes her photo and date of birth.
What about the American companies here that specifically request American citizens….yet they pay the pitiful non-livable Argentine wages?
Can you name one and give specific examples?
I’ve never heard of this.
If the wages are pitiful whey work there?
I’m not sure I get your point.
anon is, as the typical argie, trying to defend what clearly has no possible defense at all. And just because he/she thinks they are “talking shit about ARG” Typical, idiotic behaviour from the Pampas.
Regarding INADI… just another fireworks show. As usually happens down there, they talk and don`t do. Just wait 6 months and go look for the results, if any.
Cheers,
“around 54% of the ads descriminated against candidates based on gender. Another 22% descriminated by age. […] That means 76% of advertised job openings are available only to people who are just the right age and gender”
Umm, no, that’s not quite right. The 22% figure could be independent of the 54% one, but most certainly isn’t: in the worst case, the full 22% of postings that discriminate for age could also discriminate for gender, in which case the grand total of discriminatory postings would be 54%, and not 76%. In technical terms, you’re assuming that discriminating by age is independent with respect to discriminating by sex, which in real world most certainly isn’t.
The fault certainly doesn’t lie with you, Taos, but with INADI, as they should have quoted the full percentage of ads and postings they found discriminatory.
Excellent point, Matias. Many thanks. I’ll check with INADI to see if I can get more data and update the post. Taos
Actually, I am not Argentine but American. If one takes the time and looks through some of the ads on Craigslist, you will find some companies asking for Americans ONLY. Yet then pay pitiful wages that do not cover the cost of living here. Especially difficult when foreigners have to pay foreign priced rents.
Hey anon,
If you get a chance, post some those links here so everyone can see them.
Cheers,
Taos
I served as commissioner for the Human Relations Commission in my county in Maryland. It is well accepted practice here, in the USA, that you should not discriminate based on materials owned, age, race, gender, religion, and based on disabilities. Included to this list has been added sexual orientation in some counties and states. Although I have a difficult time telling somebody’s sexual orientation unless they want to make it obvious and flaunt it to me I voted this last one down.
I believe comparing any of the various Holocausts that have occurred thorughout the history of humankind; whether we hear about one more than another; or comparing what Black Americans have endured during 400 years of slavery to let’s say sexual orientation bias or discrimination, in my humble opinion is perverse to say the least!
In addition, I believe a quandry presents itself, if we are going to use American ethics as the “Gold Standard.” All we have to do is look at our egocentricism in our repeated interventions in Latin America and our own history with slaves and conclude we are not the best die to cast for equality, fairness and righteousness.
This has been going on for a couple of years now and I don’t presume it only happens here. There’s not only discrimination regarding gender, age, marital status and physical appearance but also regarding paychecks.
Every single job has its own specifications. For example, walk into any given clothing store and you’ll find that all employees are extremely good looking. Receptionists are always young and beautiful women. Women with children are a nuisance and they represent more of a problem than an asset. People over their 40s are deemed as OLD.
I really don’t care about statistics, as an Argentine I’ve come to the conclusion that all they do is talk for the sake of pretending to care. In a month no one will remember about it (and if they do, they should as well try to fix the status of those employed in negro).
Hi Cee,
Discrimination happens in every country and in every society. But at least it’s illegal in many places. In the U.S. it’s illegal even for an employer to ask a job candidate if he or she is married. These kind of discriminatory ads have been widespread since at least 1995, when I first arrived and noticed them. Hopefully things will change for the better.
Many thanks for your feedback,
Taos
Well, even if I’m a typical “argie” I’d like to underline that it happens the same in countries such as Italy, where i presently live. From my point fo view, italians grow up with the culture of “if it is beauty, it is ok”, and it does not matter if you’re more intelligent or prepared than the other one for a job, if the other is good-looking (or at least more than you), the job is his/her. And no comment about “friendships” within the company…. then you can be a complete unuseful person..but you’re in.
Many of our attitudes as argentinians, come from our italian parents. At least 45% of the argentinian population has its origin in Italy. I’m not saying that Italian are responsible for the job discrimination in argentina, but it could be an interesting point to compare and realize how similar are both situations in both countries, and maybe to conclude that the italian beautiness heritage has some kind of relationship with our typical argie attitudes, not just regarding job discrimination, but discrimination in general.
Ps: one of the problems that italian women has to face is, is you’re over 30, you’re a “potential mother”, then no one wants to hire you.
I am Argentine and have been living two years in Copenhagen, Denmark. I have suffered wage discrimination over there, even though I have a Danish citizenship but don’t speak the language. In the kind of work I did it wasn’t necessary to speak, even so my salary was les than that of a Dane. Anyway, I don’t complain, I had good working conditions and was treated as an equal– I now live in London and am a student. London is a much more cosmopolitan city that Buenos Aires or Copenhagen might be, and as much flaws there might be, the integration system and principle of non-discrimination works fine.
Is the glass half full or half empty to you?
Hi Tomas,
It’s neither half empty or half full in this case. I work for an American company and haven’t had to face any of the challenges that many people face in the local job market. My hope is that with more and more people talking about this, the discrimination will become unacceptable at some point. The sooner the better. It benefits nobody. London is amazing. I worked there years ago and loved it. Enjoy it.
Cheers,
Taos
My partner owns a company based in Buenos Aires, and I was suprised to learn from him that they require photos with their resumes. So, what, you choose who you want to interview based on their looks, I asked. The answer wasn’t so simple. On the one hand, he has no problem hiring women, older people, homosexuals, people of (darker) color. On the other hand, an overweight person has one big, fat strike against him or her. This overweight person is sending the message “I don’t care about how I look. I don’t take care of myself.”
Now, in the States, I have come across some government employees of unusual size who seem to be adequately doing their job. I don’t think one’s size would affect doing data entry, accounting, or any time of desk job duty. However, if this person has a sales position, or has any kind of position dealing with the public, he’d x them off the list.
If you’re studying, your chances of getting a job, at least in my partner’s company, are reduced because of the time off you would probably need to study, take exams, etc. Sucks because I worked during college and beyond, and I didn’t have a problem balancing work and school. But a fulltime job here would probably not be possible.
If you’re married or unmarried, your chances are the same. If you’re married with children, chances are you’d want to take care of your family, so you’d be more likely to stick with your job. If you’re unmarried, you’d have more time to work. It seems as if it’s pretty equal in this respect.
A note about the young and beautiful people: In my experience living here, beauty does not necessarily indicate an ability to work well. Many of the young and beautiful (there are some fabulous sales people here, but…there are many exceptions. We eat out a LOT.) are usually talking amongst themselves intead of helping their customers. Fine, they’re nice to look at, but their beauty isn’t going to earn them a tip or a sale. What my parter’s hiring staff looks for is not necessarily someone who is beautiful (though that is certainly a PLUS); rather, they look for self-respect that is reflected in the way a prospective employee grooms him/herself.
The company will fire people who are turning up the sexual heat in the company, though. Not to say that screwing your co-worker is verboten (it’s like a freaking telenovela sometimes). It’s only when it interferes with how the company runs. If a man is sleeping with two women in the same department, for example, more than likely, human resources will sit down to have a little chat. Or if a woman is being overly coqueta and making the male employees salivate and the female employees pissed, that’s enough of a reason to have a talk.
Now, dealing with sexual harrassment is an issue that still needs work. Women seem to like male attention, like to be looked at, but when does it cross the line? And would the guy get fired for this kind of behavior? Or would he just get his hands slapped?
As far as INADI is concerned, who knows? I NEVER thought they’d be able to ban smoking in milongas and restaurants, but they did. I was thrilled! So, maybe it will go through. You never know.
Very interesting commentary and feedback, Evie.
Thanks very much.
Taos
I am grateful at San Patrick day.
All my jobs started on a San Patrick day.
No doubt about it. GREEN IS GOOD LUCK
San Patrick always gave me a job on his day.
God bless America and let make those ones sick….
the ones waiting to see America “caerse en pedazos….”
It won’t happen
Happy SAN PATRICK DAY.
JOSSIE
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