Aptude tech company criticized for discriminating ‘non-Asian’ job posting in Bay Area

Aptude, a world-renowned IT consulting, staffing and application fintech company, appeared in headlines after it was heavily criticized for its job posting in the Bay Area. It was said that its job listing stated that applicants should be “non-Asian.”

The discriminating job requirement

ABC7 News first reported that a job ad that was described as racism against Asians was posted on Linkedln and a woman came across the ad as she was looking for work in the Bay Area. She saw that there is an open position as data analyst at Aptude, but she was surprised to see the “non-Asian” under the indicated applicant requirement.

Based on the report, the incident caught the attention of the media after the woman’s boyfriend took a screenshot of the listing and posted it on social media. Many reacted to the post, and Aptude was forced to remove the job ad after a social media backlash.

"My girlfriend found it and was so shocked and she sent it to me,” the woman’s boyfriend Stephen said in a text that was sent to Dion Lim, an ABC7 News anchor. “I definitely wasn't going to let it go unnoticed, so I decided I would post it on LinkedIn more as an effort to increase awareness both in the professional world and to get eyes from the company itself and from LinkedIn."

Aptude issued a statement regarding the issue

Aptude is based in Chicago, but according to its profile, it has offices set up around the world. After the job ad made rounds on social media and the company has been bashed for insensitivity because it appeared to be racist, it has issued a statement to appease the public.

The ABC7 reporter tweeted that Stephen also told her that he doesn’t want the incident to go unnoticed, so he shared the screenshot of the ad. Now Aptude is apologizing for the error.

"Please note the job posting was first brought to our attention on Tuesday, upon which we immediately took steps to remove it from all channels and to investigate how it occurred," Aptude stated. "Our investigation revealed that misunderstood communication was posted by an individual with no conceivable discriminatory intent.”

Finally, the company added that it has already taken steps to make sure that such a thing will not happen again in the future.