American Jews face 24% more difficulty applying for jobs and Israeli Americans 39% more.
Jewish-American candidates had to send 24% more applications to receive the same number of positive first responses from potential employers as Western European Americans when applying for the same job, according to a study published today by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Antisemitism Research Center. In addition, Israeli Americans needed to submit 39% more applications, reflecting substantial discrimination.
To this study, noted labor economist Bryan Tomlin, PhD, independently conducted a field experiment applying online for administrative assistant jobs using resumes identical except for specific characteristics, including names, that indicated whether applicants were Jewish Americans, Israeli Americans, or Western European Americans.
“This is evidence of serious anti-Semitic discrimination in the labor market,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL. “In addition to the rise in anti-semitic incidents and anti-semitic beliefs“This landmark study illustrates the very real need for employers to take anti-Jewish and anti-Israel bias more seriously in order to have a workplace that works for everyone.”
“Without the benefit of such a study, it is difficult, if not impossible, to demonstrate adverse treatment in the labor market based on one’s religion or cultural identity,” Tomlin said. “This study demonstrates that Jewish and Israeli Americans may be losing out on job opportunities based solely on their identity, not their qualifications, and is a first step toward quantifying some of these more subtle, but no less damaging, symptoms of anti-Semitism.”
Tomlin conducted the experiment with a large, pre-registered sample, sending 3.000 inquiries to administrative assistant job postings across the United States between May and October 2024, using the same email wording and identical resumes except for (a) the applicant's name—selected to be will sound Jewish, Israeli, or Western European—and (b) CV signals of probable Jewish, Israeli, or Western European origin. This methodology follows a similar approach to that used by other correspondence-based labor market field experiments.
ADL’s Center for Research on Antisemitism (CAR) builds on ADL’s expertise on antisemitism through a network of applied research, innovative initiatives, and flagship projects to assess and identify what makes a difference in combating this hatred. The Center catalyzes and conducts scholarly research in key areas of antisemitism by sponsoring fellowships and grants, conducting ADL-owned empirical research, and organizing conference and publication series.