Debunking the myth of “lack of candidates”
Magalie Auger is a former HR Director and ex-CEO who became an independent coach in October 2023. Twenty years at the heart of the recruitment machine, it goes without saying that she has seen some green and unripe things. And sometimes, she herself has fueled the slightly discriminatory system.
“When I started in the profession, I received an obese candidate. During the interview I was super uncomfortable, so I had trouble finding arguments to defend his candidacy to the teams. To overcome my stereotypical representations, I worked on myself and I met obese employees in their positions.”she remembers.
Because for this daughter and granddaughter of a communist working-class family who did not carry either the bosses or the HR managers in her heart, there was no question of fitting into the mold and reproducing the stereotypes and discriminatory biases (sometimes unconscious) of recruiters. Over the years, she tried to stay as much in line with her personal values as possible. Not always easy, and that’s an understatement. Until the day she was fired from her position as CEO of the Chambre de Métiers et de l’Artisanat de Région Nouvelle Aquitaine.
She decided to start coaching as an independent and regain her freedom of speech. On LinkedIn, she ended up denouncing the famous war for talent.
The media are spreading the idea that there is a shortage of talent in France, but this is totally false. Politicians even suggest that the unemployed are lazy, and this is also false. Companies are said to be lacking candidates. That is why they are unable to recruit. False of course!
Magalie Auger
The 20 profiles that recruiters don’t hire
And to list a twenty candidate profiles available on the market but that recruiters do not want to hire. And it must be said that his list sounds pretty accurate (source: Linkedin post by Magalie Auger):
- Young graduates with diplomas but lacking experience
- Seniors with a wealth of experience, but who were fired from their previous job
- Thirty-somethings who are operational but want to work from home or a 4-day week
- Managers in their forties, but who cost too much
- Motivated unemployed people who have been unemployed for more than 6 months
- People in retraining, but who need to be tutored
- Women full of ambition, but who can get pregnant
- Internal employees who have proven themselves but are too critical
- Motivated candidates who are unfamiliar with the sector of activity or the software used
- Working parents who want to finish at 6 p.m. for their children
- Resilient people after burnout, but who want a better work/life balance
- Competent foreigners, but who speak French badly
- Committed workers, but who have a disability
- Rare talents, but who live too far away without means of transport
- Candidates who tick all the boxes, but who are gay
- Experienced self-taught people, but without degrees
- Bold work-study students, but their tuition fees are too expensive
- Experienced people who are involved in unions
- Candidates full of good will, but who do not have a professional network
- Women leaders, but who are women
For her, depriving oneself of such good profiles is obviously heresy when one complains of not finding candidates. And to drive the point home: “In short, there is always something wrong.”
What if the problem in the world of work was not a shortage of talent, but a shortage of empathy and boldness? Companies are always looking for the five-legged sheep. But wouldn’t it be more relevant to recruit a four-legged sheep, or even – let’s be crazy! – a three-legged sheep, and to help them develop the ones that are missing?
Few (if any) official reactions from HR managers and recruiters, unfortunately
Magalie Auger’s post was liked by over 1,000 people, reposted 140 times and generated over 200 comments. Mainly people who recognize themselves in these profiles, people in transition who agree with her, but few (if any) recruiters to make their mea culpa. In any case, not in public on social networks.
Off the record, I have had HR managers who agree with me but admit that they cannot allow themselves to denounce this discrimination and cannot manage to move the lines. Agitated, in the middle of an ethical conflict, they admit to having gone from compromise to compromise. A position that also generates suffering among some recruiters.
And then there are recruiters who take responsibility, who coldly manage the payroll and say “it’s my job”. They are fatalistic,” she regrets. We regret it too.
