UK firms agree to 'name blind' hiring to cut discrimination
October 26, 2015  20:11
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Britain's civil service and several major companies have agreed to recruit university graduates and apprentices without knowing the applicants' names in an effort to eliminate bias against people from ethnic
minorities.

Prime Minister David Cameron said in a major speech last month it was "disgraceful" that people with "white-sounding" names were twice as likely as others to be shortlisted for jobs.

The goal of the new program is to make it easier for young graduates to get interviewed for their first jobs in an extremely competitive market.

Cameron's office said today that firms including international bank HSBC, accountants Deloitte, broadcaster BBC and the state-run National Health Service had signed up to the "name blind" recruitment plan, in which employers do not know applicants' names when they are selecting them for interviews. 
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