Companies, such as e-commerce giant Alibaba and other leading organizations in China, have been accused of job discrimination in their job advertisements. Sources have indicated that the ads had a deteriorating coverage of the female workforce.
Human Rights Watch indicated a campaign where they were pointing out an advertisement entitled “Only Men Need Apply: Gender Discrimination in Job Advertisements in China.” The advertisement was reflecting extremely biased views, indicating that women were less capable than men and that they won’t be able to focus and deliver the best as their priority is to be family caregivers.
Sources indicate that discrimination in hiring processes has led to a severe reduction in the female workforce, and the gender gap is continuously increasing. These kinds of discriminatory practices are not legal in China. However, the rules that define these are ambiguous, and they are not enforced effectively.
E-commerce giant, Alibaba, was accused of repeatedly of using this attraction mode to lure female candidates by citing them as “Ali-beauties” and “goddesses.” Tencent, Baidu, and leading telecom firm, Huawei, were also among the major companies that advertised the beauty of their female employees.
Human Rights Watch China director, Sophie Richardson, said, “These companies pride themselves on being forces of modernity and progress, yet they fall back on such recruitment strategies, which shows how deeply entrenched discrimination against women remains in China.”
Government departments were also under flak for having advertisements displayed for their civil service requirements. One publication centered around female train conductors which asked them to be “trim,” “fashionable,” and “beautiful.”
Richardson further reiterated, saying, “Chinese authorities need to act now to enforce existing laws to end government and private hiring practices that blatantly discriminate against women.”
