"Blind" job applications to be implemented in South Korea

President Moon Jae-in has announced plans to overhaul public sector hiring processes in South Korea in an attempt to address the prevalence of discrimination in job applications.

Potential employees in South Korea are often asked to supply information about their physical appearance, medical history, and family background on job application forms and in interviews. A survey by Korean job portal Saramin found that 93% of firms require applicants to provide a photo, and nearly 50% of 312 HR managers surveyed have rejected applicants based on their appearance.

Since his election in May 2017, progressive President Moon has been working toward a blind application system for officials and employees in the public sector, with hopes that the private sector will follow suit. The government is also preparing a blind hiring guidebook to support private companies with changing their hiring policies. President Moon stated in a recent interview that “every applicant ... should start on the same line under the same conditions, and compete fairly only on their abilities.”

Ulf Rinne has written for IZA World of Labor about anonymous job applications and “their potential to reduce some of the discriminatory barriers to hiring.” Rinne suggests that anonymous applications can have a positive impact in “shifting the focus toward skills and qualifications,” however the policy “may simply postpone discrimination to later in the hiring process.” It is more challenging to prevent discrimination in hiring activities such as interviews, for example.

Therefore, Rinne states that anonymous job applications should not “be regarded as a universal remedy that is applicable in any context or that can prevent any form of discrimination.”

Read more articles from IZA World of Labor on workplace descrimination.

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