Anonymous CV plan back on agenda
Applicants to keep their age, sex, nationality and other identifying details secret in six-month trial at 50 major firms
JOB applicants at major firms in seven parts of France will no longer have to reveal their age, sex or nationality on their CV under a new pilot scheme aimed at combating discrimination.
The government has launched the six-month trial into anonymous CVs, an idea that was voted in parliament three years ago but never fully implemented.
The 50 businesses taking part in the initiative include La Poste, Axa, Coca Cola, BNP Paribas and Eurodisney in seven departments: Seine-Saint-Denis, Nord, Rhône, Bouches-du-Rhône, Bas-Rhin, Loire-Atlantique and Paris.
Under the new scheme, job centres (pôles emploi) and recruitment websites will take a candidate's CV and hide the name, address, sex, age, birthplace, nationality, family status and photo before passing it on.
The experiment, which runs until the end of April, coincides with a new campaign by anti-discrimination group SOS Racisme against racial profiling.
In a report published this morning, the group claimed some companies were still hiring on the basis of ethnicity, a practice that has been banned since 1978.
It has lodged a complaint against car manufacturer Nissan, which asks candidates on its job site to reveal their ethnic origin and their country of birth.
A spokesman for the company said applicants were not obliged to answer, and questions about ethnic background were common in the US and the UK.
SOS Racisme also singled out Air France, which it claimed was still picking flight attendants based on their racial profile on certain flights.
The airline said staff had given their "express consent" for the data to be collected, but it decided in September to stop doing so "to avoid any controversy".
