Gov Names And Shames Racist Firms Not Hiring Africans

Story By: Joseph GolderSub-EditorJoseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

The French government has named and shamed top companies including Renault and Air France where people with “north African” sounding names apparently have 25 percent less of a chance of being hired.

The French government has named and shamed Air France, Accor, Altran, Arkema, Renault, Rexel and Sopra Steria for “presumption of discrimination in employment” after a test – “the largest ever carried out in France regarding the jobs market” according to the French ministries of Housing and of Labour, and the secretariat for Women’s Rights – that it ordered apparently showed that people who have a name that sounds like it is from the “Maghreb” have 25 percent less of a chance of being given the job.

The ministries are quoted in local media as saying: “Out of all the companies tested, it is estimated that the success rate of the candidate whose name has a North African consonance is 9.3 percent compared to 12.5 percent for the candidate with a European-sounding name “, which represents “25 percent less of a chance” of receiving a positive reply.

All the companies named and shamed by the government’s report – apart from Renault who have yet to respond – replied with “indignation” at the study.

Indeed, they said that the study showed “manifest weaknesses in the methodology used which leads to incorrect conclusions”.

Contacted by local media, Air France said that it “completely challenges the methodology and conclusions of the report” which “absolutely do not reflect the culture, values and practices of the company.”

While a spokeswoman for Altran said: “We recruit 4,000 people a year in France in an engineering market where there is a shortage, we cannot afford to discriminate.”

While acknowledging that the study has some “limitations”, the government stood by its figures.

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