The Jobseeker Study

There were several things that surprised me about the jobseeking experiment:

1. Indigenous applicants seem to face less discrimination at the interview stage than Chinese or Middle Eastern applicants. To get the same number of interviews as an applicant with an Anglo-Saxon name, a Chinese applicant must submit 68% more applications, a Middle Eastern applicant must submit 64% more applications, an Indigenous applicant must submit 35% more applications, and an Italian applicant must submit 12% more applications.
2. Discrimination against Chinese and Middle Eastern jobseekers is highest in Sydney, and lowest in Brisbane /*that's lucky for me*/. As a Sydneysider, this rather dispelled my notion of tolerant Sydney vs redneck Brissie, but it's entirely consistent with the literature on migration threat, which finds that an influx of migrants increases prejudice. In the long-term, Sydney may end up more tolerant, but the short-term effect of being the number one destination for immigrants is a rise in prejudice.
3. Even in data-entry jobs, there is substantial discrimination against non-Anglo applicants. This indicates that it can’t just be customer-based discrimination, but must be either driven by coworker or employer biases.