最近的招聘廣告都是這樣暗中夾帶年齡歧視的

Apple, Yahoo, Dropbox, and video game maker Electronic Arts all have listed openings with “new grad” as a preference.

蘋果公司、雅虎、Dropbox以及視頻遊戲公司藝電都曾在招聘新員工時都曾表示優先考慮“應屆畢業生”。

Lately, though, that language has fallen out of favor, and a curious, new phrase has taken root. Employers, especiallyin the media, advertising and tech industries, have begun advertising for“digital natives.”

但最近，這樣的字眼不再流行，一個古怪的新詞開始生根發芽。用人單位都在招聘“數字原生代”，特別是媒體、廣告和科技公司。

Fortune did a simple search in nd found dozens of listings, including from both established media giants and startups of all sizes, in which being a “digital native” is listed as arequirement.

《財富》雜誌在求職網站上簡單搜索了一下，發現了幾十條將“數字原生代”作爲聘用條件的廣告，發佈方既有知名媒體巨頭，也有大大小小的初創企業。

Virginia Beach, VA-based software solutions firm, StratusLIVE, is currently seeking alead generation specialist to join its team and according to its ad, the “ideal candidate must be a digital native” who adapts quickly to new technologies.

總部設在弗吉尼亞州弗吉尼亞海灘的軟件解決方案供應商StratusLIVE正在招客戶拓展專員。招聘廣告稱，“理想的求職者必須是數字原生代”，能迅速適應新技術。

Zipcar,the car-sharing service, posted an ad for a director of creative and brand marketing and says this person “will be a proven creative leader and digital native.” Being a digital native also is on its list of “minimum” job requirements.

汽車共享公司Zipcar在招聘創意及品牌營銷總監的廣告中稱，求職者“必須成功領導過創意工作，還必須是數字原生代”，而且“數字原生代”屬於“最低”要求。

The Gannett-owned CBS TV affiliate in Washington s in its ad that it is looking to hire digital natives.

報業巨頭甘尼特集團旗下設在華盛頓的子公司CBS招聘時，也指名要數字原生代。

In aposting for a project manager, advertising agency Wunderman, which is part of marketing giant Young & Rubicam Brands, listed as the top requirement being“a digital native” experienced in “existing and emerging digital platforms.”

隸屬營銷巨頭電揚旗下的廣告機構偉門在招聘項目經理，基本要求包括“數字原生代”以及具備“現有及新生數字平臺”工作經驗。

The question is, what does the term mean?Three employment attorneys contacted by Fortune said the trend was troublingand argued it was a veiled form of age discrimination.

那麼問題來了，這個詞意味着什麼？《財富》雜誌採訪的三位勞動法律師表示，這就是一種隱性年齡歧視，當前趨勢令人擔心。

“The term ‘digital natives’ makes me cringe,” said Ingrid Fredeen, anattorney and vice president of NAVEX Global, which provides ethics and compliance programs to large organizations. “This is a very risky area becausewe’re using the term that has connotations associated with it that are veryage-based. It’s kind of a loaded term.” Posting a job ad calling for “digital natives,” she added, is “really challenging and problematic” because it impliesthat “only young applicants need to apply.”

NAVEX Global 爲大公司提供企業倫理與合規服務。該公司律師兼副總裁英格里德o弗雷迪恩說：“我很不喜歡‘數字原生代’這種說法。對應聘者做出這樣的限制可能會有風險，因爲隱含着對年齡的強調，這是個內涵非常豐富的詞。”她還指出，在公開招聘廣告中要求“數字原生代”才能應聘“會引發質疑，而且可能惹麻煩”，因爲這種說法意味着“只有年輕人才能申請該職位。”

Author Marc Prensky has been credited with having coined the term “digital native” in a 2001 essay; he defined a digitalnative as someone born during or after the start of the digital world, meaning they grew up immersed in technologies and are “native speakers” of the digital language of computers and the Internet. In contrast, Prensky noted, the older“digital immigrants learn — like all immigrants, some better than others — toadapt to their environment” but they always retain their “‘accent,’ that istheir foot in the past.”

馬克·普連斯基在2001年的一篇論文中首創“數字原生代”這個詞。他對這類人羣的定義是出生於數字時代到來的過程中或者開始後，也就是說他們的成長經歷充滿了科技元素，計算機和互聯網數字語言就是他們的“母語”。普連斯基指出，與“原生代”對應的是年齡較大的“數字移民”，而且“像所有移民一樣，‘數字移民’也要學着適應環境，當中有些人學得好一些，有些差一些。”但他們“一定會有‘口音’，也就是過往的印記”。

Since the 1990s dotcom boom, many employers have openly sought to hire young, tech savvy talent, believing that was necessary to succeed in the new digital economy. At the same time, age discrimination complaints have spiraled upward, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), with 15,785 claims filed in 1997compared to 20,588 filed in 2014. Out of the 121 charges filed last year by the EEOC for alleged discriminatory advertising, 111 of them claimed the job postings discriminated against older applicants.

從20世紀90年代的網絡熱潮開始，許多用人單位都在招聘懂技術的年輕人才，認爲這是在數字經濟時代成功的必要條件。與此同時，美國公平就業機會委員會提供的數據顯示，針對年齡歧視的投訴呈螺旋上升態勢。1997年此類投訴出現了15785次，2014年達到20588次。去年，EEOC以發佈歧視性廣告爲由起訴了121公司，其中111家都存在歧視大齡求職者的現象。

The EEOC has said that using phrases like“college student,” “recent college graduate,” or “young blood” violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1966 (ADEA). That federal law protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older from employment discrimination based on age.

EEOC表示，在招聘廣告中使用“大學生”、“大學剛畢業”或者“年輕血液”等詞違反了1966年制定的美國《反就業年齡歧視法》。這項法律旨在保護40歲及以上的員工免受年齡歧視。

Is using a generational term like “digitalnative” just another way of excluding over-40 job candidates?

那麼，使用類似“數字原生代”的具有年代劃分意味的詞，是不是就爲了拒絕40歲以上的求職者呢？

According to Joseph Olivares, as pokesperson for the EEOC, the agency has not taken a position on whether usingthe term “digital native” in an ad is discriminatory. But that’s only because job seekers need to file a complaint first before the EEOC can investigate. So far, none have been filed.

EEOC發言人約瑟夫o奧利瓦雷斯表示，尚未認定在招聘廣告中使用“數字原生代”是否屬於歧視行爲。因爲EEOC只有在收到求職者投訴後才能展開調查。但迄今爲止，還沒有出現過這樣的投訴。

All You and InStyle, which, like Fortune,are owned by Time Inc., each ran ads that used the term “digital native;” theads were posted about six months ago. “If you found an ad, it was probably posted by a hiring manager who didn’t see it as a problem and didn’t bother getting it clear,” Greg Giangrande, Time Inc.’s Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, said in a statement. “It’s not a phrase that weuse in our advertising.” (He also said that in media circles, the term isgenerally used as “short-hand” for people who have up-to-date digital skillsand experience.)

和與《財富》雜誌同屬時代公司，約6個月前這兩家公司發佈的招聘廣告中都提到了“數字原生代”。時代公司執行副總裁兼首席人力資源官格雷格o吉安格蘭發表聲明稱：“如果看到這樣的招聘廣告，就意味着人事經理並不覺得有問題，也沒認真想過會不會有問題。我們就不應該在招聘廣告中使用這種說法。”（他還曾在媒體圈中表示，這個詞一般代指“缺乏”最新數字技術和相關從業經驗的人。）

Fortune reached out to all of the employers mentioned in this article. Only one responded to requests for tusLIVE apparently took down the ad shortly after Fortune requested comment; the ad no longer exists on the web. [Update May 4, 9 am: Zipcar alsoapparently has taken its ad down.]

《財富》雜誌聯繫了本文提到的所有公司，只有一家做出了迴應。顯然，在《財富》雜誌提出詢問後，StratusLIVE很快就撤下了廣告，現在已經無跡可尋[最新進展：5月4日上午9點，《財富》雜誌發現Zipcar也撤下了相關廣告]。

In bound Marketing Agents’ co-founder Pat Owings told Fortune that Inbound has been using the term “digital native” on itsjob ads since last year. Owings, whose job responsibilities include human resources, according to thecompany’s website, said that when he first saw the term in one of their ads, he expressed concerns to his co-founder and CEO Bill Faeth, but the ad was published anyway. “This sort of recklessness from the CEO,” he said, is exactly the reason why he is currently separating from the company.

營銷機構Inbound Marketing Agents聯合創始人帕特o奧因斯對《財富》雜誌表示，從去年開始在招聘廣告中要求求職者爲“數字原生代”。該公司網站顯示，奧因斯的職責之一就是人力資源管理。他說，第一次在廣告中看到這個字眼時，他對聯合創始人兼首席執行官比爾o費思表示有點擔心，但廣告還是登了出去。奧因斯指出：“身爲CEO，費思這樣做有點草率，”而這正是奧因斯要離職的原因。

Owings added: “[Bill] has tried to createan organization that’s very Google-esque with the free beer and the free snacksand cool looking office space … that tends to attract a younger crowd. Butobviously if he was called into court and put on the stand, he would say he wasusing [digital native] in a much more broad term, that he just wanted[applicants] to be technologically - savvy. That being said, he’s very focused onhiring a millennial workforce.”

奧因斯還說：“[比爾]一直想把模仿谷歌的公司氛圍，辦公室裏有免費啤酒和點心，環境佈置得很酷……很吸引年輕人。如果被起訴上了法庭，很顯然他會聲稱自己口中的[數字原生代]是更廣義的，他只是希望[求職者]都是懂技術的。話雖如此，他在實際工作中卻一直努力組建80後員工團隊。”

According to Owings, there’s only one other employee — aside from himself and Faeth — over the age of 30. There are currently seven employees and five contractors working at In bound.

據奧因斯介紹，除了他和費思，公司裏只有一位員工超過30歲。目前，Inbound Marketing Agents有7名員工和5位承包商。

Bill Faeth has a different story,describing Owings as “disgruntled because he is no longer part of the company.”He said he never received any warnings from Owings about using the term“digital native” on job ads. In fact, Faeth said he wasn’t aware that the term could be associated with age or a generation.

比爾o費思的說法則截然不同，他說奧因斯“因爲已經離開公司而心存不滿”。費思稱，他從未聽到奧因斯對招聘廣告中的“數字原生代”提出警告。他還表示不知道這個詞與年齡或某一代人有關。

“I think it’s a pretty common term that’s being utilized in ourindustry,” he said, adding he didn’t think the term had a correlation with ageso much as digital experience.

費思說：“我覺得這個詞在業內用得相當普遍。”他表示認爲“數字原生代”主要指擁有數字領域的經驗，與年齡並無直接關係。

“I’m 42 years old and I had my first Apple when I was eight yearsold, so I would classify myself as a digital native just because I’ve used digital specifically for the majority of my adult life,” he said. He also said he “probably, possibly” won’t use the term in more ads “if there is potentialfor any kind of age discrimination.”

費思說：“我今年42歲，8歲時就有了第一臺蘋果電腦，所以我覺得自己也屬於數字原生代，因爲成年後的大部分時間裏我都與數字技術相伴。”他還表示，“如果可能存在年齡歧視”，自“大概很可能”不會在招聘廣告中一直這樣說。

The employment attorneys contacted by Fortune all argued that using the term leaves employers open to charges of agediscrimination. Christy Holstege, a civil rights attorney and feminist activistin Palm Springs, California, said, “I don’t believe using ‘digital native,’ agenerational term, as a job requirement would stand up in court. I think older individuals could definitely argue ‘digital native’ requirements are just apretext for age discrimination. And since this employment practice uses age asa limiting criterion, the defense that the practice is justified by a reasonable factor other than age is unavailable.”

《財富》雜誌採訪的勞動法律師都認爲，使用該詞可能讓用人單位被指控年齡歧視。常駐加州棕櫚泉的克里斯蒂o霍爾斯特格是一位民事權利律師和女權活動家。她說：“‘數字原生代’是個具有年代劃分意味的詞，不過我覺得將其作爲應聘條件在法庭上站不住腳。大齡應聘者完全可以質疑這樣的要求是隱性年齡歧視。鑑於在實際招聘時經常把年齡作爲限制標準，這種行爲是出於其他合理原因而不是年齡的說法不能成立。”

Still, Holstege acknowledged proving age discrimination in a courtroom would be difficult. Holstege said that while she doesn’t think it’s “smart to put [digital native] in a job posting,” she cansee employers arguing in court that the term “carries unique meaning as to certain skills or qualifications” and is “necessary to the normal operation ofthe particular business.”

不過，霍爾斯特格承認在法庭上證明存在年齡歧視很困難。她表示，儘管認爲“在招聘廣告裏使用[數字原生代]並不明智”，但可想而知用人單位會在法庭上辯稱，這個描述“是特指具備某些技能或資格”，而且“是勝任某些工作必備的條件”。

If the job posting is the only piece of evidence the plain tiff has, they’re “probably going to be out of luck,” said Anne Golden, a partner at prominent employment law firm Outten & Golden. Butif, for example, the plaintiff is, say, 55, and the hiring manager is 39 year sold and has only hired people in their 20s and 30s and only fired people who are older, then you’re starting to build a case that would be admissible incourt, explained Golden.

著名勞動法律師事務所Outten & Golden合夥人安妮·戈爾登指出，如果原告掌握的證據只有一條招聘廣告，“很可能希望不大”。不過她舉例說，如果原告55歲，人事經理39歲而且只聘用二、三十歲的人又只解僱年齡較大的員工，法院就有可能受理。

Age discrimination cases are “harder toprove than other kinds of discrimination,” she said, especially since a 2009 Supreme Court ruling. In Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Jack Gross, a54-year-old former executive at the time he filed, sued his employer,Iowa-based insurance firm FBL Financial, for age discrimination when he was demoted. Despite winning in the lower courts, Gross lost his case in the Supreme Court, which ruled that plain tiffs have to prove that age discrimination was the “motivating” factor. Before Gross’ case, plaintiffs hada valid claim if they were fired or demoted on suspicions of age discrimination.

安妮表示，在類似官司中，“證明存在年齡歧視的難度要大於其他歧視行爲”，特別是在2009年美國最高法院就格羅斯-FBL金融服務一案做出裁決後。在該案中，原告是時年54歲的前高管傑克o格羅斯，被告是格羅斯的工作單位——總部在愛荷華州的保險公司FBL金融服務。格羅斯的起訴理由是因爲年齡歧視而遭降職。儘管在級別較低的法院打贏了官司，但最高法院裁定格羅斯敗訴，依據是原告必須證明年齡歧視是“誘發”因素。而在此之前，只要懷疑原告被解僱或降職的原因是年齡歧視，就可認定原告主張有效。

The current lack of seriousness placed onusing the term “digital native” in job ads, though, could very well be because people are ignorant of its definition, explained Fredeen. Employers may beusing the term loosely to mean someone who is “really comfortable with technology and social media platforms.”

NAVEX Global的弗雷迪恩解釋說，目前招聘廣告中使用“數字原生代”沒有引起重視很可能是因爲人們並不確切瞭解該詞的含義。用人單位也許只是泛指“熱愛科技和各類社交媒體平臺的人”。

In fact, Panasonic’s ad for a marketing group manager calls for a “digital native,” even while requiring that candidates have a minimum of 10 years professional “hands-on experience,” five years management experience, five years digital experience and preferably a MBA. How many candidates under the age of 35 would have all that experience?Panasonic didn’t respond to a request for comment.

實際上，松下電器在招聘營銷團隊經理時也使用了這種說法，但具體要求是至少10年的“實際工作經驗”，5年管理經驗，5年數字領域經驗，而且最好有MBA學位。35歲以下的求職者中能有多少符合全部要求？對於《財富》雜誌的詢問，松下未做出迴應。

“Maybe there is a cautionary tale to tell,” Fredeen said, predicting this “kind of language” in job ads will come under “great scrutiny in the very near future.”

弗雷迪恩說：“說不定會因此鬧出點事。”他估計，招聘廣告中的“這種說法很快就會受到密切關注”。

In the meantime, the man who coined the phrase has backed off using the term altogether and instead evangelizes for what he calls “digital wisdom.”

此外，作爲發明者，普連斯基已經表示不再用這個詞，轉而向推廣“數字時代的智慧”觀念。

On his web site, Prensky explains:

普連斯基在網站上是這樣解釋的：

“Immigrants have to watch out for thinking the way they learned to do things is still the best way. Natives need to realize that they still have to learn many things about technology — and life. That is why it is important that we all learn to work together, with mutual respect, to find Digital Wisdom.”

“‘數字移民’要注意，不能認爲過去掌握的方法仍是最好的；而‘原生代’則要意識到，不管在科技還是生活方面還有許多東西要學。因此學會協作很重要，應該以相互尊重的方式尋找數字時代的智慧。”