Discrimination

We judge people on their appearances and discriminate them on many criteria all the times. Discrimination is very useful tool in several situations. It might help us avoid bad neighborhoods or help us avoid unsuitable job candidates. But discrimination is not celebrated for a reason, it filters out a lot that is capable but not given the opportunity.

Despite of all the laws and regulations against discrimination, it is very easy to discriminate. If you are black, you cannot hide that fact. If you had a medical condition, or not beautiful, it is also not so often easy to hide. Airline industry regularly discriminates against fat people. In my office, a lady with cancer was discriminated against for years despite having very good credentials for administrative assistant job.

Discrimination is, however, not limited to organizations. Countries discriminate. US laws discriminate against immigrants despite the fact that USA is a country of immigrants. I applied to many jobs recently and number one reason employer would not take me was the fact that they would have to sponsor my visa. By law, none of them can ask my immigration status, but they would find out. Companies behavior is outright ridiculous when it comes to hiring immigrants. I applied to a company recently where they sent a questionnaire to fill out. One of the question was a roundabout way to ask my immigration status "would your employer need to sponsor your visa". I submitted the questionnaire with correct status. I got a reply within minustes of sending the questionnaire i. e. employer did not even look at what I wrote in answer to other questions.

Discrimination is the result of high supply and low demand. It is most where there are plenty with the skill but fewer jobs. Low skill jobs are as such because anyone can do the job. When my nephew can plumber why i need to hire a plumber. As we go up the skill level, the chances of discrimination go down simply because people with the right skills are hard to find. But it only works when there are plenty of jobs available. For example, a high skilled artist will not be in demand in africa because their are no high skills job available. A combination of skills and global mobility also makes one hard to be discriminated against. Consider for example an artist with a MBA who is willing to travel and relocate to different locations. He would be high in demand from somewhere in the world and would not have competition in skills set from many.