Job applicants with Jewish names or previous employers with Jewish ties are less likely to apply for administrative assistant jobs, the Anti-Defamation League announced Wednesday in an alarming new study. was announced.
ADL conducted a field experiment between May and October of this year in which it submitted 3,000 applications for administrative assistant job postings via Craigslist.org in 23 cities across the country.
The report found that Jewish Americans had a 3.4% lower rate of positive test results, and Israeli Americans had a 4.9% lower rate of positive test results, compared to people of other backgrounds, such as Italian or Irish ancestry.
“This is groundbreaking evidence of serious anti-Semitic discrimination in the labor market,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.
“In addition to the rise in anti-Semitic incidents and the rise in anti-Semitic beliefs, this ground-breaking study shows that employers are increasing the number of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents in order to create a better workplace for everyone. It shows a real need to take prejudice more seriously.”
Craisglist is one of the few online bulletin boards where person-to-person email is the primary form of communication rather than an online job application process.
In the applications and resumes submitted, some candidates do not provide information about their name or previous work experience, such as working at a Jewish deli or working for a Jewish or Israeli athletic or cultural organization. , turned out to be Jewish.
Given lower response rates, Jewish Americans would need to submit 24% more applications to receive a positive initial response from the same number of prospective employers as other Americans. was found in the report.
Israeli Americans had to send in 39% more applications.
Brian Tomlin, an economics professor at California State University, Channel Islands, said the study was conducted because such religious discrimination is more subtle and difficult to prove than blatant street anti-Semitism.
But sometimes it becomes public. UCLA officials complain that “many Zionists” are seeking jobs and are accused of putting Jewish applicants on a “rejection” list.
In October, the ADL reported that more than 10,000 anti-Semitic incidents occurred across the United States during the same period last year, a 200% increase from the same period last year and a record high.
After Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, much of the hatred raged on university campuses as the war in Gaza continued, data showed.
Employment discrimination based on religion is against the law.
“Without the benefit of this type of research, it is difficult, if not impossible, to prove disadvantageous labor market treatment based on religious or cultural identity,” Tomlin said.
“This study shows that Jewish Americans and Israeli Americans may be missing out on job opportunities based solely on their identity, rather than their qualifications, and these more subtle but still harmful It provides a starting point for quantifying some of the symptoms of anti-Semitism.
Applications must be submitted to Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, District of Columbia, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Trenton.
The report found Israeli applicants were treated the worst in Seattle, where they were 16.3 percentage points less likely to receive a positive response from an employer than elsewhere, 23.1 percent versus 6.8 percent.
