Article:
Cifolelli, K. (2018, January 2). Using Facebook Job Ads May Enable Age Discrimination. Washington Post .
Main Thesis
Cifolelli (2018) categorically states that “employers who use Facebook job ads to help with their recruiting practices need to be cautious in how they use this approach to reach applicants”. The article states that “employers are using Facebook’s ad targeting tools to exclude older Americans from job opportunities” (Cifolelli, 2018).
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Core Arguments
How does the author present her arguments? First the author presents a clear process of how the ads are placed by Facebook. She describes that when setting up the ads, Facebook users are provided with options on how to choose the people they want to reach (Cifolelli, 2018). The user has no alternative rather than provide the specific information that the site asks for. Failure to comply with the provided options will make the site reject the job ad. Usually the employer will be asked to fill in information related to interests, behaviors, geographic location, demographics such as age, gender, relationship status, education, workplace and job titles (Cifolelli, 2018). All these options will have to be checked in order to for the ad to run on Facebook.
A recent lawsuit by the Communications Workers of America and three Americans highlights that in fact Facebook ads are inappropriate and they are meant to lock out the older people from potential employment. The lawsuit is seeking for the discriminatory Facebook ads to be declared as a violation of employment laws. Cifolelli (2018) reports that “they are seeking action status to represent Facebook users 40 or older who may have been denied the opportunity to learn about open positions as a result of the ad targeting” (Cifolelli, 2018).
Who is affected by age discrimination brought about by Facebook ads? The article mentions that “when companies use Facebook’s targeting technology and use age as an option, it makes job ads invisible to older Facebook users, and therefore; denies older workers job opportunities” (Cifolelli, 2018). The population that have been affected by the Facebook ads is made up of people aged 40 years and above. The ads are targeted for younger people and this makes it impossible for the older people to access or view ads for such jobs. Consequently this denies them such job opportunities.
What is the impact of the discriminatory Facebook ads to the older people? In the lawsuit the complainants stated that “ this pattern or practice of discrimination denies job opportunities to individuals who are searching for and interested in jobs, reduces the number of older workers who apply for jobs with offending employers and employment agencies and depresses the number of older workers who are hired” (Cifolelli, 2018). Any employment opportunity should not discriminate people on any grounds. Facebook ads recruitment is biased and meant to lock out the older people form employment opportunities; this a critical issue and need to be addressed accordingly. Recruitment ads should be made in such a way they promote the spirit of completion and professionalism. Locking out potential candidates on grounds of age is technique of discrimination.
What did Facebook say in defense and is the response justifiable? Facebook rejected that it was discriminating through its advisement claiming “ the individual ads are part of broader-based recruitment efforts designed to reach out to all ages and backgrounds… age-based targeting for employment purposes is an accepted industry practice and for a good reason; it helps employers recruit people of all ages find work” (Cifolelli, 2018). This statement is not factual because once an ad is targeted for people less than forty years it eliminates opportunities of older people from viewing the ad and applying for the job opportunities. Therefore having ads that target people of some specific age does not help people of all ages to find work opportunities. Therefore the defense offered by face book is not justifiable.
I am convinced that the article addresses a critical issue that need to be addressed. Facebook ads should be monitored closely to ensure they do no promote discrimination by age in company’s recruitment practices. People should be given equal opportunities to compete and apply for jobs they are qualified or interested in. Rather than declaring Facebook job ads a violation of employment laws, the social media platform should be given a chance to change the job ad placement options on its network.
References
Cifolelli, K. (2018, January 2). Using Facebook Job Ads May Enable Age Discrimination. Washington Post .
