Chinese firms turn down those who have had Covid

CHINESE employers are discriminating against candidates who have recovered from Covid, job advertisements show.

Applicants who have worked in government quarantine facilities, where thousands of people are sent after testing positive, are also being shunned according to state media.

Those who have travelled recently or have been traced as a close contact of someone who tested positive for Covid are also having difficulty finding work.

Recruitment agents say that some employers fear the risk of re-infection and disease spreading in the workplace, particularly in places such as factories, which would disrupt operations.

Even companies that don’t openly say that they won’t hire those who have fallen ill with the virus before are quietly turning down candidates with a history of infection.

It comes as Macau announced a weeklong shutdown of its casinos and non-essential businesses yesterday as the Chinese gambling hub confronted its worst outbreak yet.

Covid stigma has been rife since the pandemic erupted nearly three years ago in China.

At first, anyone with a link to Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated, was deemed persona non grata, refused entry into public areas and at times shunned altogether.

Now, nearly three years since the start of the pandemic, China’s millions of migrant workers may be the most disproportionately affected, as many have taken up temporary work in coronavirus prevention – one sector that has job openings given the continued sudden lockdowns.

Unable to keep moving from city to city where they can find seasonal work at restaurants and factory assembly lines, many have taken on temporary jobs instead as cleaners at hospitals and government quarantine centres, or as community enforcers to ensure lockdown compliance.

Chinese employers routinely impose various limits on job applicants, including by age and gender, though such practices are considered illegal.

Job advertisements, including for major tech firms such as Huawei and Alibaba, sometimes explicitly state that only men or “beautiful girls” should apply, the latter listed as a draw for working at the company.

Employers also routinely ask female applicants probing personal questions andome firms have even asked applicants to promise not to get pregnant if hired, and told plainly that taking maternity leave means losing the job.