Firms revamp hiring method
Big companies join Obama in efforts for jobless
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has persuaded some of the nation’s largest companies — including Wal-Mart, Apple, General Motors and Ford — to revamp their hiring practices to avoid discriminating against applicants who have been out of work for a long stretch of time.
Mr. Obama on Friday hosted a group of corporate chief executives at the White House to highlight those efforts and the use of presidential persuasion to help the jobless find work. In all, White House officials said, about 300 businesses have agreed to new hiring policies, including 21 of the nation’s 50 largest companies and 47 of the top 200.
“Folks who’ve been unemployed the longest often have the toughest time getting
back to work,” Mr. Obama said at the White House event. “It’s a cruel Catch-22: The longer you’re unemployed, the more unemployable you may seem. Now, this is an illusion, but it’s one that, unfortunately, we know statistically is happening out there.”
Those out of work for longer stretches, the president said, are just as educated and experienced as newly unemployed. “Just because you’ve been out of work for a while does not mean that you are not a hard worker,” Mr. Obama said. It “just means you had bad luck, or you were in the wrong industry, or you lived in a region of the country that’s catching up a little slower than others in the recovery.”
He added: “They just need employers to realize it doesn’t reflect at all on their abilities or their values. It just means they’ve been dealing with the aftermath of this really tough job market, and all they need is a fair shot.”
To illustrate the point, the White House had Mr. Obama be introduced by a formerly jobless veteran who eventually found work with the help of a training program. Erick Varela, a former U.S. Army combat infantryman, returned to California in 2008 and had trouble finding a job for which he was qualified. He ended up unemployed and homeless until enrolling in a program started by the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. that enabled him to become an apprentice electrician.
“The work PG&E provided to me restored purpose to my life and gave me a sense of direction once again,” Mr. Varela said. “And I am glad that PG&E is expanding the PowerPathway program to address long-term unemployed and for signing on the president’s initiative.”
Among the companies whose chief executives appeared with Mr. Obama, according to the White House, were Motorola, eBay, Deloitte, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Boeing, Bank of America, Marriott International, McDonald’s and Walgreen.
The challenge of the longterm unemployed has become especially acute as the economy struggles to recover from one of the deepest recessions in modern times. While unemployment among those out of work for a short time has returned to historical norms, officials said, it remains particularly high among those who have been seeking jobs for longer periods. Nearly 4 million Americans are categorized as long-term unemployed.
Studies have shown that, deliberately or not, companies tend to look askance at applicants who have been without a job for many months. Northeastern University researchers sent out 4,800 fictitious, computer-generated resumes and found that those from people out of work for six months or longer rarely got responses.
Similarly, scholars from the University of Toronto, Yale University and the University of Chicago sent 12,000 invented resumes to more than 3,000 job openings found online. Of those reporting that they had been out of work for a month, 7 percent were offered interviews; of those who were said to be out of work for eight months, just 4 percent were called for interviews.
In addition to hosting some participating executives Friday, Mr. Obama signed an executive memorandum instructing the federal government to abide by the same practices. He also announced that the Labor Department would direct another $150 million to partnerships that help workers develop needed skills.
Gene B. Sperling, the president’s national economics adviser, said the event might spur other businesses to follow suit. “Our hope,” he said, “is that this is not the destination or culmination of this, but this will have a larger and more significant impact.”