Producers Need To Take Advantage Of Shortsightedness

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Helen Norton, associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Law, said both employers and staffing agencies have advertised publicly that only currently employed candidates may apply for a job. These positions range the professional field from electronic engineers to restaurant and grocery managers to mortgage underwriters, she said.

"Some employers may use current employment as a signal of quality job performance," Norton testified. "But such a correlation is decidedly weak. A blanket reliance on current employment serves as a poor proxy for successful job performance."

Fatima Goss Graves, vice president for education and employment of the National Women's Law Center, called it a "troubling development in the labor market."

Several said that the actions disproportionately affected minorities and the disabled. Minorities hold a disproportionate share of the unemployed numbers, experts noted.

"At a moment when we all should be doing whatever we can to open up job opportunities to the unemployed, it is profoundly disturbing that the trend of deliberately excluding the jobless from work opportunities is on the rise," Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project said.

The EEOC did not indicate how pervasive the practice is, and I have seen no statistics that speak to the frequency of it, but the fact that it exists at all should make us wonder what is motivating people to discriminate in this way.

Is it a prejudice that if you're not working, there must be something wrong with you as a worker? Or are employers just looking for a way to control a flood of resumes from coming their way?

While the EEOC is seeking to understand if this practice is motivated by prejudice, I would like to think that what's really motivating these employers is a desire to avoid having to wade through a huge stack of resumes.

One group of professionals who should understand how tough this economy has been and remains is insurance agents and brokers. I've spoken with more than a few who have told me how they've experienced declines in their business because their commercial clients have had to layoff so many workers.

During earnings conference calls, a few of the publicly held big brokers have said, in a subtle fashion, that they have reduced headcounts at their operations to enhance earnings. I'm sure there are more than a few privately held brokers who have had to do the same in this economy. And as we all know, virtually no business was immune from making some difficult choices to survive the great recession.

I'm certain many principals have fought to retain those who they felt to be the most capable. I'm also sure there's a few producers who have let go of an employee or two that they would hire back in heartbeat once their business picks up.

So when members of the insurance industry hear that there are employers out there looking for new employees, but they will only consider those who already have a job, I hope producers just shake their heads and ask, "What are they thinking?"

Indeed, in an industry such as insurance where so many talk about bringing new blood into the fold, it would appear that this is the perfect opportunity for agents and brokers to put out the welcome mat and say, "Unemployed? We don't care. We know it's tough out there. We're looking for a few capable people and, if you fit, we want you to join us."

One employer's loss can be another's gain. In this industry that finds it such a challenge to attract new and young members, this would seem to be the perfect occasion to offer a chance to people who have suffered through the woes of long-term unemployment and show the generosity of opportunity many producers talk about everyday.