Johannesburg - South Africa is not the only country where women are hired based on their physical attributes, and not just their abilities, a new study has revealed.
Dr Sevag Kertechian, a researcher at Paris-Sorbonne University, has compiled a study that was unveiled this week which shows that women who flaunt their attributes are 19 times more likely to land a job interview.
The research was reported on widely by the UK press and was unveiled at a body image conference in London, the Appearance Matters Conference.
The study brings to mind Cell C CEO Jose dos Santos' gaffe earlier this year when he stated he preferred to hire attractive women as this made male employees up their game.
Under the research, similar looking women with near identical experience on their CVs applied, with pictures, for 100 accounting and sales roles wearing conservative clothing and another 100 roles pictured in a more revealing outfit, the UK’s Daily Mail reports.
According to the UK publication, the study - which took place over three years - found there were 68 more interview offers for the more provocatively dressed woman.
Researcher Dr Kertechian is quoted as saying the results “showed interesting trends as low-cut dresses significantly influenced the choice of the recruiters, even for accounting positions.
Read also: Interview rules to land the job
“Regardless of the job, whether customer-facing saleswoman or office-based accountant, the candidate with the low cut clothing received more positive answers.
“The results were quite shocking and negative but not necessarily surprising – they show we need to conduct more research.”
The news reports have not indicated how many women were ultimately offered a position after the interview.
Read also: LinkedIn tips to help you get hired
Dos Santos recently got into hot water when he made some comments on Johannesburg-based radio station CliffCentral, while speaking on the subject of leadership, that many took umbrage with.
Among his comments, the CEO said hiring a greater number of clever and good-looking women has “created a different environment” at the company than when he arrived, Bloomberg reported. After adding that he’d like to be succeeded as CEO by a woman, he made the reference to women being more aggressive in arguments between themselves than two men.
Hiring attractive women as interns, including contestants of the Miss South Africa beauty pageant, encourages male workers to shave and dress better, Dos Santos told the radio station. Cell C, majority-owned by Dubai-based Oger Telecom, is one of the main sponsors of the competition.
Dos Santos later apologised and top female staff members issued a public letter saying they “stand fully in support of our CEO” .
The empowered female workers added “there have been moments in all our lives when we have said or done something we regret. For some the consequences were difficult to swallow while others escaped with a mere reminder to do better tomorrow.
“Too often people stand by and allow things to happen to good people; and while we know we might face some criticism for our decision to stand beside our CEO; we as women in leadership positions at Cell C cannot allow someone to be solely judged for one unfortunate comment, while what he has done to empower women, both within and outside the company, goes unnoticed.”
IOL