The advent of the World Wide Web and in particular social networking sites have greatly influenced the way people interact both socially and professionally. As you post a photo of yourself and friends online having fun at a private party, someone miles away may access the photo and judge your character using the same. This has been the increasing trend in the employment arena. Today, employers are doing a background check through the social media to determine the right candidate for a certain job. The employers are not only concerned about their employees’ skills, but also their morality and values which employers perceive as an important aspect of a good employee.
Although the employer may not tell you why they have turned your application, most probably they have seen something unpleasant about you somewhere online. Yes, an update you made on your Facebook wall, a Picture you posted on Instagram or any other network may block you from a lucrative job. The question however has been whether it is ethical for employers to do so or not. This essay seeks at analyzing why employers are right in the use of social network to profile recruits for a job. This will be achieved through two ethical theories; utilitarianism and Kantianism.
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The first theory that will be used Utilitarianism stipulates that an action is good if it results in an increase in the general good of everyone involved. According to utilitarianism profiling candidates using their social network behavior is right if the organization and the candidate’s benefits are of importance than their cost and wrong if the harm surpasses the benefits. Although assessing the real benefits of this scenario is not easy as organizations vary from service to manufacturing, scrutiny of social website information of a candidate is beneficial as it seeks to ensure the company gets the right candidate for the job, and that the candidate does not come to the wrong job. Take for example a person who has posted on their wall that they don’t wish to work in a bank. By hiring such a candidate despite being qualified on other quotas will jeopardize the quality of services offered to the clients, hence poor services. On the other hand, the candidate may never find job satisfaction if hired for the post.
The second theory is the Kantianism which states that, individuals’ actions ought to be influenced by moral laws, and that these moral laws are universal. The making of a decision based on a person’s social data on social media according to this theory is it is ethical since the employer is looking at a person who can do the job with integrity, high moral values in addition to other skills.
Under Kantianism it would be unethical to turn a blind eye on negative information of a candidate in the hiring process. In the same manner, the standards should be universal. Even if the candidate was in the shoes of the employer, he or she wouldn’t want to hire a person who openly declares he doesn’t respect the job or any other negative behavior that may affect the job. For example, a person posting nude photos of themselves online does not have moral values, which are the basis in Kantianism theory.
Conclusively depending on how one looks at it, in this two theories utilitarianism and Kantianism, the employer is ethical in their judgment of the candidate by the scrutiny of their social profiles. According to utilitarianism, the act must be for the greater good of everyone. Customers and the organization require a descent person, honest, integrity and with all positive values that the employer may uphold. Hiring the wrong person for the job therefore may cause harm to the organization, other employees and clients. Kantianism on the other hand advocate for universality in ethical moral principles. This theory perceives that, one should emphasize on morality in what they do. Thus, when next you post a nude picture of yourself or other online, or make that unusual comment on a topic, know that it can be used to determine your suitability for a job.
