Almost two in every three Indian workers believe they have been discriminated against when applying for a job, a survey by global staffing provider Kelly Services has revealed.
The Kelly Global Workforce Index sought the views of close to 70,000 job-seekers in 28 countries, including around 2,000 in India.
A total of 64 per cent of respondents in India said they had faced prejudice when applying for a job during the last five years. Discrimination in India is relatively high by global standards.
India is ranked fifth among the 28 countries. Sweden, Thailand and Singapore were at the top of the list. Age as a source of prejudice was identified by 16 per cent of Indian respondents. This was followed by gender (13 per cent) and disability (3 per cent).
Approximately 18 per cent women and 12 per cent men reported gender discrimination.
"Ageism has overtaken ethnicity and gender in many areas as the greatest source of discrimination in employment," said Achal Khanna, Kelly Services Country general manager for India.
In India, almost 35 per cent workers aged 45 or more felt they had been discriminated against on the basis of age. Of the younger workforce, 16 per cent aged between 25 and 44 said they had been denied jobs because of their age. People without university degrees reported a higher rate of discrimination.
