Y’All Got A Job For Me?

A strong accent can be a serious disadvantage for job seekers.

That’s the conclusion of a new study by the University of North Texas, which found that accent bias is often subtle but can have a significant impact.

Recruiters in the study regarded people with Southern drawls, for instance, as stupid and assigned them to jobs where they had little contact with the public.

A Californian and Minnesotan in the group ranked high, researchers said, mostly because their accents were neutral.

North Texas researcher Patricia Cukor-Avila said bias against people with noticeable accents has become “an acceptable form of discrimination.”

Results of the study are based on the impressions of 56 executives with hiring authority who listened to recordings of 10 men reading the same 45-second passage. The speakers were from Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, Louisiana, Alabama, California, Texas and North Carolina, as well as Georgia and New Jersey. All of the speakers were college-educated.

Here’s how the accents ranked: California, Minnesota, Texas, North Carolina, Boston, Alabama, Chicago, Louisiana, Georgia and New Jersey.

Paying a price: Telecommuting employees don’t advance as quickly as office-based workers, according to a survey of 250 senior business executives by the International Tenant Representative Alliance, a group that provides intermediaries in commercial real estate deals.

The survey found that the number of companies offering telecommuting as an alternative for workers is rising, as is the number of firms that offer flexible work schedules. Both trends are considered positive by employees who are seeking a greater work and family balance.

But there is a downside for some workers, the survey found. Forty percent of executives whose companies allow telecommuting report that employees who work from home will find it takes longer to rise in the ranks. These executives say that being visible in the office remains the key to getting promoted.

Relocation perks: Organizations are trying harder to make it easier for the spouse who accompanies an employee being transferred.

More companies are offering to pay for resume preparation and career counseling for the relocating spouse, according to a survey of 43 employee relocation professionals. The survey, conducted by management consulting firm Runzheimer International, reflects policies as of 1998.

The survey found that the number of companies that will reimburse the employee for the spouse’s lost income rose to 9 percent in 1998 from 2 percent in 1996. At the same time, the number of companies that will help the couple find a home dropped to 7 percent from 14 percent.

The study found that in 83 percent of the cases, it was the wife who relocated with the husband. In 17 percent of the instances, it was a husband who relocated for the wife’s job.