Recruitment ads in China reveal widespread discriminatory hiring practices based on gender, most notably in the country’s technology sector.

Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent were among the technology companies whose job ads were found to openly discourage female applicants or objectify women, according to the report, released in April by Human Rights Watch. The group analysed 36,000 Chinese job advertisements, most from the past five years.

The three companies issued statements in their defence: “We have investigated these incidents and are making immediate changes. We are sorry they occurred and we will take swift action to ensure they do not happen again”, said Tencent. A spokeswoman from Alibaba said the company “will conduct stricter reviews of the recruiting advertisements to ensure compliance with our policy.” A Baidu spokeswoman said the postings were “isolated instances”, Reuters reports.

The report also underscores the link between discriminatory hiring practices in China and a shrinking proportion of women in the labour force – despite the well-established benefits of gender diversity in the workplace – as well as growing gender disparity over pay. Technically gender discrimination is illegal in China, but “enforcement is low and Chinese authorities rarely proactively investigate companies that repeatedly violate relevant laws”, Human Rights Watch said.

The exposure comes amidst a broader movement in China against gender discrimination and harassment, emboldened by the global #MeToo movement. The accusations of discriminatory behaviour and lack of gender diversity in Silicon Valley has been shining a light on these problems in the technology sector worldwide. In China, the #MeToo movement has gained momentum on university campuses, though the government is heavily censoring it online.

Discriminatory hiring practices in China, clearly reflected in job ads, is not limited to the technology sector. Human Rights Watch also criticized ads it found for government roles, construction workers and teachers. The report said that so far in 2018, 19% of the Chinese civil service job ads it reviewed were “men only” or stated that men were preferred.

The Human Rights Watch report received little attention on Chinese social media, however. Platforms such as Alibaba-backed Weibo or Tencent’s WeChat app contained hardly any posts on the issue. Chinese social media companies are often required to censor civil rights discussions, including those related to Human Rights Watch and the #MeToo movement.

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