Saturday, January 20, 2018

Extra Caution When Displaying Job Ads

It is totally reasonable for Target to send diaper ads to pregnant women, but pushing job posts based on age is more controversial. Corporate giants including Amazon and T-Mobile engaged in age discrimination by placing recruitment ads on Facebook targeting younger workers, according to a lawsuit filed by a communications industry labor union.

There is a vague boundary for how creative and customized can marketing job ads be. Facebook, one of world's largest marketing platforms, provides extensive flexibility for companies to decide who to reach. Theoretically, a perfectly designed job ads filter should only reach the candidates who are qualified to apply to that job - so-called micro-targeting. However, the accuracy is governed by laws against discrimination. While companies setting up the age filters are considered misconduct, Facebook's business model also contributed.


One thing Facebook can do is to remove controversial filters such as race, age and gender, especially for talent hunting posts. In addition, Facebook can change the fee structure to discourage discrimination.

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