Would data-less job applications work?

[CornishBarbie]

Discussing this with friends - to really ensure people are only being employed based upon their actual skills and experience shouldn't we form a system where all job applications are based on this alone? Sex, race, pregnancy etc all left out of it? Surely this is a good way to ensure fairness in the workplace.

Yabu - you need all this data to ensure a diverse workplace and this is more important than having the most efficient staff
Yanbu - it's important to be diverse but also important to give employment opportunities to those who have worked to earn the skills and qualifications for a job

I work for a local council and all applications go to HR and all personal data - name, address etc is removed. It is an incredibly fair system.

I also work in the public sector and all managers can see is qualifications, work history and personal statement when shortlisting. I suppose bias could come in to play when interviewing but there are already at least 2 people on the panel.

YANBU, and the application should be available to download or fill in online with a built in C.V.

I have been on many shortlisting committees and data about race and pregnancy has never been available to the committee, plus there is a clear list of essential criteria which is entirely to do with skills and experience that we have to score people against. I imagine this is the case with most employers.

That happens already in the public sector.

But we're woke like that

This, although if you were going to discriminate against someone, the interview is going to give away their sex, race and approximate age so it's not a failsafe unless all interviews are conducted using voice changers and the interviewee hidden from view.

Who is the 'we' you are referring to OP? Your proposed 'system' already exists in a lot of workplaces.

I don't agree, there are times context is important. Otherwise maternity looks like a gap in the cv, for example.

I recruit for scholarships for PG study - our male applicants are so much more confident in applications but not the better students when they get in. This year we are running a "writing an application" session for female applicants to try and close this gap a bit - then read the applications blind - but it's a problem we grapple with year on year and your proposal is too simplistic.

I work in the private sector and have been doing a fair amount of recruiting. When I'm sent the CVs by our recruitment team to sift, I don't know who the people are, just a number on the CV.

I only finally know who they are when I've shortlisted and they've been invited for interview. Me, my line manager, who is an Exec Director and a member of HR, are then present.

HR don't have any specific questions to ask, they are there to ensure the process is followed correctly and all decisions are fair.

No. This won't work. If you interview them you see them. You then know.

Plus you can tell, right at the beginning, the moment you start reading a CV. It's obvious from their jobs, their school GCSE's, you can tell how old they are, guess race accurately.

I actually loved doing phone interviews at the start of covid (hated video ones) as there were no distractions of what they looked like etc.

Wow I am a bit thick I think hahaha! I really thought we had invented this system this morning. I had no idea these details weren't available to HR and I work in the public sector! That said I haven't actually applied to a job in about a decade. Good point re the interview, I wonder if just a phone process would work as one of the posters said. Thank you all for replying!