A Study of the Impact of Employability Criteria on the Employment Level of Minority Ethnic Groups in Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Dublin.

Abstract

Studies carried out by previous authors suggested a perceived labour market inequality towards minority ethnic groups (persons from outside the EU) within the Irish labour market which was deemed to be caused by different forms of taste-based discrimination and prejudicial views against minority ethnic individuals. My research was aimed primarily at identifying the particular employment criteria that have impacted the employment level of minority ethnic groups and test if the same situation argued by previous researchers still exist today. The review of the available literature built the base from which the conceptual framework was built which served as a guide in carrying out my primary research. The study was based built around specific concepts like how cultural differences influence recruitment, the effectiveness of employment equality policies and factors that influence decision making in the recruitment process. The data was collected through semi-structured telephone interviews with recruiters and HR officers on what goes on during the recruitment process and how various employability criteria impacted their decision making. The findings showed that the major employability criteria that has impacted the employment level of minority ethnic nationals are societal culture in terms of communication, legal right to work in terms of legal right to work in many SME’s and the rating of educational qualifications based on countries where they were obtained. The findings also contrasted with the views of previous researchers in that the cause of perceived labour market inequality is not due to prejudice but rather difficulties in cultural assimilation and factors outside the scope of employment equality policies available in Dublin based SME’s. I have therefore recommended additional primary research be done from the job seekers point of view and a need divide minority ethnic groups into smaller distinctive groups based on culture and nationality as they each have different characteristics.