Workplace discrimination in Hungary amongst the highest in Europe with older workers facing new hurdles
25. October 2006
A new international workplace survey has found that almost two out of every three workers in Hungary believe they have been discriminated against when applying for jobs, with age discrimination becoming more widespread.
The survey found that 65% of respondents in Hungary say they have experienced discrimination of some type when applying for a job in the last five years.
The Kelly Global Workforce Index sought the views of approximately 70,000 people in 28 countries including almost 900 in Hungary.
The major sources of discrimination identified by respondents were age, cited by 34%, followed by 13% for gender, 3% for disability and 1% for racial discrimination.
Women in Hungary generally had a higher level of discrimination with 68% facing prejudice when applying for a job, compared with 60% of men.
The incidence of discrimination in Hungary was high by global standards with Hungary ranked 4th on the list of 28 countries worldwide and 2nd amongst the 16 European countries.
In Europe, the highest rates of workplace discrimination were seen in Sweden, Hungary and Italy, while UK, Denmark and Luxembourg had the lowest.
In the area of gender discrimination, approximately 16% of women and 7% of men reported they faced prejudice when applying for work.
Age discrimination is becoming more prevalent with 55% of workers aged 45 or older being discriminated against on the basis of their age. There were also 45% of younger workers aged up to 24 who believed they were victims of age discrimination.
The survey also found that approximately 53% of those surveyed said they experienced discrimination in their day-to-day working life.
Kelly Services Hungary Managing Director, Anikó Jónás, said the figures highlight how discrimination is changing over time and age is the new epidemic.
“Ageism has overtaken ethnicity and sexism in many areas as the greatest source of discrimination in employment.
“At a time when we face an ageing population and skills shortages, many organizations are putting obstacles in the way of hiring older people.
“This can be devastating for individuals but it is also means many organizations are shutting off an important source of talent and diversity.
“Organizations that don’t address these issues directly can do themselves considerable damage and can suffer costs both direct and indirect.
“They may suffer high staff turnover, absenteeism, poor morale, low productivity, poor reputation, and also the possibility of civil claims and penalties arising from breach of anti discrimination laws,” Jónás said.
“It is critical that managers ensure that employees fully understand their rights, and that managers faced with workplace discrimination take immediate steps to remedy the situation.
“Employees will themselves be looking to see that instances of discrimination are handled decisively, sensitively and effectively,” Jónás said.
Only a tiny fraction of those who felt discriminated against actually took the matter further and most were unhappy with the outcome.
The survey found that people without university qualifications reported much higher rates of discrimination.
Kelly Services, Inc.(Nasdaq: KELYA, KELYB) is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Troy, Michigan (USA), offering staffing solutions that include temporary services, staff leasing, outsourcing, vendor on-site and full-time placement. Kelly operates in 30 countries and territories. Kelly provides employment for nearly 700,000 employees annually, with skills including office services, accounting, engineering, information technology, law, science, marketing, light industrial, education and health care. Revenue in 2005 was US$5.3 billion. Visit http://www.kellyservices.com
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Media contact:
Jónás Anikó
Manging Director
Tel: + 36 1 354 2772
E-mail: ajonas@kellyservices.hu