CV Wizard surveyed 1,000 people aged 18-60 to shed light on key trends, challenges and opportunities for job seekers, and found that older professionals meet the most bias, and were more likely to have their skills tested when applying for roles.

Active bias

The grouping of people who said they experienced the most bias was men aged 45-60 (68.557%), followed by women in the same age bracket (66.67%).

Out of a number of factors, including religion, sexual orientation, name, disability, criminal background and weight, age (47.06%), race (17.65%), gender (20.59%) and neighbourhood (3.82%) were the most commonly-cited factors for workplace bias.

Interestingly, overall 38.02% of men said they experienced age-related bias, but this fell to 4.26% of women. However, almost double of the women surveyed (31.01%) said they experienced gender bias, compared to 15.59% of men.

Addressing bias

A majority of respondents (66.89%) said they would prefer if job applications were anonymous to reduce bias, signalling a pressing need for further inclusive practices in hiring.

Considering earlier stats, it’s not surprising that this figure is higher in the 45-60 age group – 78% of that category’s respondents want to see anonymous application processes.

Anonymous job applications strip away identifiable information such as names, addresses, and even educational institutions, so that companies can create a more level-playing field for all applicants.

When job seeking, look for details on how your chosen organisation has adopted inclusive hiring practices in the job spec.

Some have trained hiring managers specifically, others have invested in blind recruitment platforms that turn CVs into anonymous ones to focus on skills and experience instead, while others use redaction software to block out educational institutions, addresses and years of study etc.

Also note if the organisation is collecting diversity data when you complete the initial application process. This tells you a lot about how committed a company is to battling systemic bias in the workplace. If you get through to the interview stage, you can also ask about inclusive hiring policies that the company currently operates and is focused on improving.

Looking for a more inclusive place of work? The Maddyness Job Board is the perfect place to focus your search. It features thousands of jobs in progressive organisations, including the three below.

Game Engineering, Programming & Tech Art - Talent Community, Keywords Studios, Scotland/Remote

Join Keywords Studios Talent Community and you'll be part of a talent hub for professionals in the AA game development industry. With a global network of over 70 studios across 26 countries, it is extending an invitation to talent who are passionate about C++, Tech Art, Games Rendering, Audio, Tools, Physics, and Networking. You’ll need to have a strong background in one or more of the following roles; Animation Programmer, Audio Programmer, Games Engine Programmer, Graphic/Rendering Programmer, Lead Games Programmer (C++ preferable), Games Programmer (C++ preferable),Technical Artist or Tools Developer. The studio has a promising DEIB commitment in its job spec. See more here.

Advanced Services Engineer - CSS Database Infrastructure, Specialist - Developed Vetting (DV) UK, Oracle, London

Technology leader Oracle is hiring for an Advanced Services Engineer to be a trusted advisor to customers and to develop a deep knowledge of their systems and needs. You’ll be supporting the operation of infrastructure and platform deployments onsite and in cloud, delivering services that drive customer success and innovation. At least six to 10 years’ hands-on experience with Oracle databases and infrastructure is required, and experience with GoldGate, or Oracle security products is desirable. Oracle is an equal employment opportunity employer, and outlines its diversity and inclusion policy on its website. Find out more here.

DevOps Engineer, IBM, Manchester

Work in an IBM Consulting Client Innovation Centre and deliver technical and industry expertise as a DevOps Engineer. Opening with a commitment to diversity and inclusion as being an authentic component of its culture, IBM goes on to outline the role and its responsibilities. The successful candidate will design and deploy solutions to the cloud, which will allow for automatic provisioning and management of environments, continuous integrations and containerisation functionality, and the automation of testing. You must be able to build new DevOps pipelines and a full list of technical expertise is also listed. Read more here.

Find your next job in tech today via the Maddyness Job Board