Try anonymous job applications, says SER

Dutch employers should experiment with anonymous job applications to see if that leads to a more diverse workforce, says Alexander Rinnooy Kan, chairman of the government’s socio-economic policy think-tank SER. ‘Preconceptions are often abandoned if people actually get the chance to tell their story,’ ANP reported Rinnooy Kan as saying. Rinnooy Kan was speaking at a Labour party meeting, called to outline the party’s election pledges to tackle discrimination. The party called for fines of €8,000 to be imposed on employers who discriminate against potential workers on the grounds of race, age or sex and said the government should act as a good example by only doing business with firms which have taken steps to broaden their workforce.