Quartz.com recently published an article (you can check it out here), which mapped a few rich countries and the respective minorities that they discriminate against, when it comes to job callbacks. The background of the minority groups vary by country.

In Toronto, one of the most diverse cities in Canada, if your name is Indian (assuming Tamil names fall into this category within the study) or Chinese sounding, you are less likely to receive a follow up call to your resume compared to a candidate with the same experience and skill sets, but has a name identifying with the majority population. The same holds true in the UK. Here’s the full list:

In the past, TC had conducted an informal poll through our site which asked if our readers (who are mainly from Canada, UK and the USA) had ever shortened or anglicized their names to land a job. Here are the results:

Some people in the Tamil community feel that shortening or modifying ethnic names to increase the chances of getting a job is acceptable, while others feel that an individual’s name is a core part of their identity and continuing to adhere to and support a system that discriminates based on this, is a practice that needs to be changed. What are your thoughts? Comment below or on our Facebook page.