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Rabat – A new report by France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) has shone a light on the struggles migrants of job seekers from the Maghreb region face on the French labor market, revealing that job applicants from North Africa have to navigate with strong discrimination in the country due to prejudices surrounding their roots or origins.
Published in March, the INSEE data covering the period between 2019-2020 stressed that job seekers’ chances of being vetted after a job interview differ according to gender and origins.
“Applications of comparable quality, which are distinguished only by gender and origin suggested by the names and surnames of the candidates, receive different attention from recruiters,” the report said.
Even when they completed their studies, obtained their diploma and worked exclusively in France, the report detailed, applicants from North Africa receive 32% fewer callbacks from recruiters than those who have no “migrant ancestry.”
Also impacting a job seeker’s employment prospects is gender, the report further showed, stressing that women of North African descent are 9% more likely to be recontacted by recruiters than men of the same ancestry.
Meanwhile, women of North African origin are 29% less likely than women without migrant ancestry to receive a callback from recruiters and potential employers. By comparison, male job seekers of North African ancestry are 34% less likely to receive a callback than their counterparts with French or European ancestry.
Over the years, several reports have raised similar concerns about issues discrimination and other related issues facing migrants in France, both in the professional setting and many other aspects of life.
Read also: Study Finds Persistent Discrimination in French University Admissions
In 2020, a French government study acknowledged the persistence of “presumed discrimination” against minorities in the hiring process.
The study showed that a candidate with an Arabic sounding name “would have a less than 25 percent chance of being vetted for a job compared to other candidates.”
Seven companies, namely Renault, Air France, Accor, Altran, Rexel Arkema, and Sopra Steria were found involved in discrimination during the hiring process — they tended to favor candidates with names that suggested French or European ancestry.
“Of all the companies tested, candidates with North-African names have had an estimated success rate of 9.3%, whereas candidates bearing European-sounding names have had a success rate of 12.5%,” the study found.
Many similar reports have stressed the need for France and other European countries to step up efforts to address racism and racial discrimination.
Acknowledging the severity of the issue of discrimination against migrants and citizens of migrant ancestry, the UN has warned that racism and discrimination increasingly lie at the “heart of political and social concerns.”
Isil Gachet, the Executive Secretary to the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), recently wrote on the UN website: “Faced with persistent expressions of racism and xenophobia, the Council of Europe Member States1 have, for several years now, been taking firm and sustained action to combat these trends.”
Despite several promises and vows to tackle the situation, countries in Europe – particularly France – continue to be hotbeds of anti-immigrant sentiments amid the normalization or triumph of migration-bashing political discourse.
