When employers discriminate against women, whether through prejudice or ignorance, women are paid less and miss out on higher-quality jobs. Historically, one way of dealing with this discrimination was for women to set up employment agencies which specialized in finding jobs for women. In new research, Jennifer Hunt and Carolyn Moehling find that private employment agencies in the United States, owned by women, helped female jobseekers obtain better jobs and pay in the mid-20th century.

Many people who seek work do so via employment (or recruitment) agencies - organizations which connect job seekers with employers. Private employment agencies may improve the quality and speed of matches between those looking for jobs and employers, including by reducing discrimination and providing more accurate assessments of jobseekers' skills.

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15 October 2024

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LSE USAPP

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https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2024/10/15/how-women-owned-employment-agencies-in-the-1950s-and-1960s-helped-women-to-get-better-jobs-and-better-pay/

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