> but filter out anyone whose social media indicates them as being left-ish.
Hiring based on political beliefs, or in this case, presumed political beliefs, sounds like a dangerous road to go down.
And I am saying this as a young, STEM-educated person who skews left.
At least in EU, discriminating based on political beliefs goes against art. 21 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Pardon my ignorance but, is that allowed in the US?
No, broadly speaking there are no national laws in the US agaisnt firing someone for their political views.
It is complicated but basically in the US, at the national level there are a few protected classes (age, gender religion, race, disablity) and you can’t make the decison to fire someone based on these reasons.
You can fire people for any other reason or no reason, so in practice this protection is limited and genreally favors the employer. Some US states have their own addtional labor protections.
You are correct, but I believe my fundamental conclusion is also correct. Simply put there are a few reasons you can’t fire someone and almost infinite number of reasons you can. California has more protections than others but the balance of power still overwhelmingly stays with the employer.
I believe that is allowed in some US states, because political affiliation is not a federally protected employment class, and some, but not all, states prohibit it.
> Hiring based on political beliefs, or in this case, presumed political beliefs, sounds like a dangerous road to go down.
You don’t think this is happening already? I’m not sure what companies you’ve looked at but most big tech firms have left wing political cultures on an official level, with “culture“ departments and events promoting and sharing various culturally left-wing talking points everyone is supposed to be on board with. Try saying “I actually don’t think america is a deeply racist country in 2020, there’s a huge amount of opportunity here which is evidenced by the number of people (ostensible victims of racism from India, mexico, etc) who line up to come here. Oh and by the way I think natal women are entitled to privacy from men in their bathrooms (like 95% of Americans believe)” during a lunch interview and see how fast you get the “thanks for your time we’ll be in touch.” Or just say “I voted for the current president” if you prefer something shorter.
Alternately, talk about supporting BLM, BDS, and how terrible America is as a country—no one will bat an eye.
For the record I hold views from both of the above “columns” but I know which ones I’m allowed to share at work (the left leaning “progressive” ones) and which ones I need to keep to myself, namely, everything else.
EDIT: downvoters: please set me straight here and let me know what part of my comment is inaccurate or untrue.
Hiring based on political beliefs, or in this case, presumed political beliefs, sounds like a dangerous road to go down. And I am saying this as a young, STEM-educated person who skews left.