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A friend of mine applied to VMWare a year or two ago. They were asking him all sorts of questions about various disabilities; are you deaf? Do you use a wheelch

A friend of mine applied to VMWare a year or two ago. They were asking him all sorts of questions about various disabilities; are you deaf? Do you use a wheelchair, etc.. The recruiter told him directly that they were looking for people with disabilities to fill their quota of people with disabilities, necessary because it was a government position. So we're definitely out of the game of recruiting based on merit in at least some government spots, and instead focused on unrelated favoritism.

Zababa 5y ago
There is this in France too. Over a certain size, a company has to have a quota of people with disabilities, or pay a tax.
dalyons 5y ago
I find that very difficult to believe, as it’s very illegal to ask about disabilities during hiring. VMware as a large company with many lawyers and hr people would of course know the rules so I’d be shocked if this story is true.
- Zababa 5y ago
  Laws are not the same everywhere in the world. In France we have disabilities quotas, so it makes sense to ask about them during hiring. I also think suing someone because they didn't hire you is less of a thing.
ineedasername 5y ago
You generally don't have to ask a person if they're deaf. Unless you mean it was part of the application/submission process? It sounds like a greatly exaggerated version of the truth, which is this: The actual requirement for government contractors is that they cannot require someone to disclose disability information, but they must give the applicant the opportunity to do so. Because roughly 10% of the workforce has a disability, and it was found that government contractors appeared to discriminate against people with disabilities that were otherwise qualified for the work. So, large contractors became obligated to have a less-than-representative 7% of their workforce pulled from a pool of candidates with disabilities. I'm not sure quota systems like this are the best way to handle the problem. However, this approach is hardly the death knell for merit-based hiring.

Zababa 5y ago

There is this in France too. Over a certain size, a company has to have a quota of people with disabilities, or pay a tax.

dalyons 5y ago

I find that very difficult to believe, as it’s very illegal to ask about disabilities during hiring. VMware as a large company with many lawyers and hr people would of course know the rules so I’d be shocked if this story is true.

Zababa 5y ago
Laws are not the same everywhere in the world. In France we have disabilities quotas, so it makes sense to ask about them during hiring. I also think suing someone because they didn't hire you is less of a thing.

ineedasername 5y ago

You generally don't have to ask a person if they're deaf. Unless you mean it was part of the application/submission process? It sounds like a greatly exaggerated version of the truth, which is this: The actual requirement for government contractors is that they cannot require someone to disclose disability information, but they must give the applicant the opportunity to do so. Because roughly 10% of the workforce has a disability, and it was found that government contractors appeared to discriminate against people with disabilities that were otherwise qualified for the work. So, large contractors became obligated to have a less-than-representative 7% of their workforce pulled from a pool of candidates with disabilities. I'm not sure quota systems like this are the best way to handle the problem. However, this approach is hardly the death knell for merit-based hiring.