Anonymous job applications proposed

Federal minister of employment Monica De Coninck wants to make it possible for candidates to apply for jobs anonymously. The idea is that women, older people and those of foreign origin, who sometimes find themselves discriminated against, could thus gain easier access to the labour market. Employers, though, are not keen on the idea, De Morgen reports today. “Although anonymous applications are not a miracle solution, they can become part of a broader policy to review the recruitment methods of certain companies,” De Coninck said. “It offers the same opportunities to all candidates during the selection phase.” In the public sector, the early stages of the selection process are already largely anonymous. “The government wants to encourage this type of selection in the private sector,” she added. However, Karel Van Eetvelt, managing director of the employers’ organization Unizo, said the anonymous application system did not work: “We conducted an experiment of this kind in our own organisation and its implementation was highly problematic.”