Postcode selection? Employers' use of area and address-based informationshortcuts in recruitment decisions (RR664)
Research to investigate whether area-based discrimination exists and is part of the explanation for worklessness in deprived areas.
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By Dr Alex Nunn, Dr Tim Bickerstaffe, Terence Hogarth, Derek Bosworth, Anne E. Green and David Owen
Between the mid-1990s and the onset of the 2007/08 economic crisis a strong labour demand appeared to coexist with high levels of worklessness, especially concentrated in deprived areas. Area-based discrimination by employers is one suggested cause of spatially concentrated worklessness, but there is currently limited evidence to support this. This research was commissioned to investigate whether area-based discrimination exists and is part of the explanation for worklessness in deprived areas. The work also considers the value of using employer information networks to combat inaccurate stereotypical perceptions by employers. The project involved a literature review as well as qualitative fieldwork and an analysis of quantitative data.