Over 60 pct Taiwan employees face discrimination in job-seeking: Survey

TAIPEI -- About 61 percent of employees in Taiwan have encountered discrimination when seeking jobs, mostly against their age and looks, according to a recent survey.

More than half of the respondents aged above 45 said they had faced discrimination over their age when they were seeking jobs, the highest percentage among all age groups, showed the survey conducted by 1111 Job Bank, a job service website in Taiwan.

Up to 65.3 percent of women had been discriminated against over their looks, much higher than the 34.7 percent for men, according to the survey.

Almost 30 percent of the 1,168 surveyed said they had come across inappropriate requests during job interviews, such as inquiries into their previous salaries, marital status, relationships, and their parents' jobs.

Ho Chi-sheng, vice general manager of 1111 Job Bank, said asymmetric information and power led to widespread discrimination against job seekers. "Obvious discrimination against job applicants who are over 45 years old is likely due to the fact that they are about to retire soon," he said.

The respondents said they hoped employers can improve the transparency of salaries and avoid asking questions irrelevant to work during job interviews.

The survey, which was done between July 29 to Aug 19, also found that 57.4 percent of employees quit their jobs shortly after they started because the jobs had not met their expectations. About 29.7 percent of them only worked one day before quitting.

Ho suggested job applicants voluntarily ask future employers about issues they care about the most, such as salaries, in order to make the best decisions for their career development.