Do Firms Discriminate Against Unemployed?

Well of course they do. Why else would they ask personnel information like how long has it been since you worked at your last job? Here's my favorite one, why was you unemployed for so long? or why didn't you look for a job before now? I absolutely think the unemployed are discriminated.

I'm not sure if they discriminate against but I do know many more questions are asked of you.

A couple of jobs ago I was speaking to an HR rep. regarding my background check and a question was asked about an 8 month period of time I had shown as unemployed, my response was that I took a vacation. Notarized verification from my neighbors was required as to my residence during this time. My guess was they didn't like the fact I could take an 8 month vacation from work and they couldn't.

Yes I was offered the position.

Mike

I don't know if you could call it discrimination. It's a huge risk for any company to hire you since the decision is made based on a few hours of interviews and a piece of paper. References do help for sure. But the payback is not immediately apparent, sometimes not for months. Unemployment for any length of time is a red flag. Of course they would want to know why. Is it a personality thing? Are you untrainable? These days, it's more about how well you play with others.