I know I’m facing allegations of being racist with this post, but my real question is why? All I’m going to do is state a fact, and publish what I’m sure is the opinion of hundreds of thousands, if not millions.

How many of you are frustrated when you call a business – or even a work colleague – and you can’t understand what they’re saying? It could be their accent or their poor English skills, but whatever it is, it makes having a conversation with these people pretty much impossible. I have one of these people that I have to deal with at work, and I hate it. I have actually instructed my staff to never call this person on the phone. They are only to deal with her by e-mail.

As it happens, this woman was born in China, and her English skills aren’t the greatest. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a smart woman, and by all accounts she performs well in her job. But it’s just f**king impossible to discuss complex issues with her. And if I speak too fast on the phone, SHE can’t understand ME. I work in a Government job, which is one of the reasons I don’t mention too much about it. But in this case, the problem is that Governments have to run their workforce in ways that private business would refuse to accept.

If you run a corner shop, and someone applied for a job who couldn’t speak English, or was missing an arm and couldn’t carry stock, or was deaf and couldn’t hear the customers, you would easily be able to find a reason not to employ them and pick someone else. It doesn’t mean you’re racist or discriminatory, you just need someone who can peform a series of tasks, right?

Well it seems that the Australian Government is too f**king soft to use the same practice. They are an “equal opportunity employer”, which means they’ll take you even if you’re in an iron lung. And why? Because you’d be surprised how easy it is to sue Government departments for discriminating. But what we end up with, is people working in Public Service jobs – who YOU have to deal with every week – who don’t speak English properly.

This woman I have to deal with – let’s call her Sarah – works at a pretty high level in my organisation. When I get stuck, I have to ask her for help. But here’s the problem: The work I do is visible at Ministerial level, so it HAS to be 100% perfect – there is no excuse. When I get confused (because my department doesn’t use it’s software the way the programmers intended), I need Sarah’s help. And here’s why I never call her. She speaks broken English – and in the way that most Asians do. They don’t use small words like “the” or “a”. And they don’t use plurals. And they don’t always finish their words (need becomes nee, what becomes wha).

Now let’s compare this to the countries that we don’t see eye-to-eye with: Middle Eastern countries, Communist countries, Dictatorships, etc. If you go to THEIR country, you better tow the line Jim, because if you don’t, you go to jail (like spitting on the sidewalk in Singapore)- or you get shot. But come here and you can run all over us.

The “boat people” we get in Australia are a classic example. These people come here illegally. They land on our shores and we put them in a detention centre. Then, they get to use OUR legal system – FOR FREE – to fight OUR LAWS so that we have to let them stay. And then, they get welfare, because they can’t get a job because they’re not residents, and they don’t have a visa. Try that in China, Afghanistan or Chile – I dare you.

But I digress. Why can’t employers (including Government – and Vodafone) insist that if you’re going to work for us, and deal with our customers on complex issues, you have to be able to speak our language? Not a difficult concept to grasp I would think. And not one that you could really call racist. Racism involves discriminating against someone because of their race – not their abilities. I bet that if I moved to Spain (by the way, I don’t speak Spanish), I’m sure I wouldn’t get a job dealing with customers in a shop – let alone on a helpdesk for something complex.

I know I’m facing allegations of being racist with this post, but my real question is why? All I’m going to do is state a fact, and publish what I’m sure is the opinion of hundreds of thousands, if not millions.
How many of you are frustrated when you call a business – or even a work colleague – and you can’t understand what they’re saying? It could be their accent or their poor English skills, but whatever it is, it makes having a conversation with these people pretty much impossible. I have one of these people that I have to deal with at work, and I hate it. I have actually instructed my staff to never call this person on the phone. They are only to deal with her by e-mail.
As it happens, this woman was born in China, and her English skills aren’t the greatest. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a smart woman, and by all accounts she performs well in her job. But it’s just f**king impossible to discuss complex issues with her. And if I speak too fast on the phone, SHE can’t understand ME. I work in a Government job, which is one of the reasons I don’t mention too much about it. But in this case, the problem is that Governments have to run their workforce in ways that private business would refuse to accept.
If you run a corner shop, and someone applied for a job who couldn’t speak English, or was missing an arm and couldn’t carry stock, or was deaf and couldn’t hear the customers, you would easily be able to find a reason not to employ them and pick someone else. It doesn’t mean you’re racist or discriminatory, you just need someone who can peform a series of tasks, right?
Well it seems that the Australian Government is too f**king soft to use the same practice. They are an “equal opportunity employer”, which means they’ll take you even if you’re in an iron lung. And why? Because you’d be surprised how easy it is to sue Government departments for discriminating. But what we end up with, is people working in Public Service jobs – who YOU have to deal with every week – who don’t speak English properly.
This woman I have to deal with – let’s call her Sarah – works at a pretty high level in my organisation. When I get stuck, I have to ask her for help. But here’s the problem: The work I do is visible at Ministerial level, so it HAS to be 100% perfect – there is no excuse. When I get confused (because my department doesn’t use it’s software the way the programmers intended), I need Sarah’s help. And here’s why I never call her. She speaks broken English – and in the way that most Asians do. They don’t use small words like “the” or “a”. And they don’t use plurals. And they don’t always finish their words (need becomes nee, what becomes wha).
Now let’s compare this to the countries that we don’t see eye-to-eye with: Middle Eastern countries, Communist countries, Dictatorships, etc. If you go to THEIR country, you better tow the line Jim, because if you don’t, you go to jail (like spitting on the sidewalk in Singapore)- or you get shot. But come here and you can run all over us.
The “boat people” we get in Australia are a classic example. These people come here illegally. They land on our shores and we put them in a detention centre. Then, they get to use OUR legal system – FOR FREE – to fight OUR LAWS so that we have to let them stay. And then, they get welfare, because they can’t get a job because they’re not residents, and they don’t have a visa. Try that in China, Afghanistan or Chile – I dare you.
But I digress. Why can’t employers (including Government – and Vodafone) insist that if you’re going to work for us, and deal with our customers on complex issues, you have to be able to speak our language? Not a difficult concept to grasp I would think. And not one that you could really call racist. Racism involves discriminating against someone because of their race – not their abilities. I bet that if I moved to Spain (by the way, I don’t speak Spanish), I’m sure I wouldn’t get a job dealing with customers in a shop – let alone on a helpdesk for something complex.