About 30.2 percent of new college graduates searching for work have been victims of sexual harassment — both verbally and physically — during job interviews, a poll by the online job bank yes123 showed.
The poll showed 31.8 percent of respondents said they were asked if they had any “unmentionable diseases” or “experienced pain during their periods,” and another 27.3 percent said the interviewees made inappropriately lewd jokes.
Another 25.2 percent of respondents said they were asked about their sexual orientation during the interview process, while 23.9 percent said interviewers asked about their measurements, height or weight, the poll showed.
Photo courtesy of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ma Wen-chun
A total of 21.8 percent of respondents said interviewers had put their hands on their shoulders, 20.5 percent said interviewers had touched or tried to hold heir hands, 18.4 percent said that interviewers caressed their backs, and 9.4 percent said interviewers groped their buttocks, the poll showed.
According to the poll, 16.3 percent of respondents said interviewers had asked that they join them to share meals or have drinks, and 10.5 percent said they were asked to go on trips with the interviewers.
The poll showed 87.7 percent of jobseekers said they were asked private questions, with 60.3 percent being asked about their relationship status; 51.6 percent were asked about their hobbies and interests; 43.4 percent were asked about their plans for marriage or having children; 28.9 percent were asked about their zodiacal signs or their blood type; and 26.7 percent were asked about their emotional or physical states.
A total of 31.4 percent of respondents said they experienced verbal discrimination during the interview, with 38.1 percent saying interviewers were verbally disparaging of their alma mater; 35.1 percent were discriminated against because of their major, 32.1 percent said interviewers verbally discriminated against their looks and appearance; 29,8 percent said interviewers disparaged them for their body figure; and 26.3 percent said the interviewees were verbally discriminatory because of their gender.
Yes123 spokesman Yang Tsung-pin (楊宗斌) on Friday said that these acts from corporations fall under employment discrimination, adding that interviewees should immediately express their dissatisfaction or refuse outrageous requests.
Should the company persist with such requests, the individuals should file a complaint with their local bureau of labor, he said.
Yang suggested that interviewees either refuse to answer tactfully or ask that the interviewer clearly state the relevance of such questions to the job they are being interviewed for.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper