Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
PLoS One. 2023 Mar 16;18(3):e0281449. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281449. eCollection 2023.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people found themselves out of work in 2020 and 2021. Going forward, will their pandemic resume gaps be stigmatized or forgiven? In a recent survey experiment in the United States, I find that US adults have negative perceptions of individuals who were unemployed during the novel coronavirus pandemic. When asked to select among fictional applicants for a job opening in the hospitality industry, respondents prefer those who were employed continuously throughout the pandemic. Respondents are about 20% less likely to choose applicants with pandemic resume gaps, regardless of whether they were laid off, stopped working to supervise virtual school, or yo-yoed in and out of employment. Respondents also describe applicants with pandemic resume gaps in more negative terms, perceiving them as less hardworking, less dedicated, less professional, and less qualified than otherwise identical applicants who remained employed. Public opinion toward individuals with breaks in employment during the pandemic matters because it may affect public policy, and because stigma harms job seekers in multiple ways. Furthermore, the results of the experiment are consistent among survey respondents with hiring and managerial experience. While we should always be cautious about generalizing from survey experiments, these findings suggest that people who were out of work during the COVID-19 pandemic may face disadvantages when they return to the labor market.
由于 COVID-19 大流行，数以百万计的人在 2020 年和 2021 年失业。展望未来，他们在大流行期间的求职空档期会受到歧视还是被原谅？在最近在美国进行的一项调查实验中，我发现美国成年人对在新型冠状病毒大流行期间失业的个人持负面看法。当被要求从虚构的酒店业工作申请中进行选择时，受访者更倾向于那些在整个大流行期间持续就业的人。无论他们是被解雇、停止工作以监督虚拟学校，还是断断续续地就业，受访者选择有求职空档期申请人的可能性要低 20%左右。受访者也用更负面的词语来描述有求职空档期的申请人，认为他们不如其他同样就业的申请人努力、敬业、专业和合格。对大流行期间有就业中断的个人的公众意见很重要，因为它可能会影响公共政策，而且污名将以多种方式伤害求职者。此外，实验结果在有招聘和管理经验的调查受访者中是一致的。虽然我们应该始终谨慎地从调查实验中得出一般性结论，但这些发现表明，在 COVID-19 大流行期间失业的人在返回劳动力市场时可能会面临不利。
