Pasadena, California -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/06/2010 -- Employers in Georgia and in the Atlanta metro area in particular, are increasing screening out applicants who are unemployed.

Employers are increasing of the view that only workers with low productivity were let go during the recession. Another reason given is that a person who has been unemployed for a long time has not tried hard enough to get another job and is only now looking for a job because his unemployment benefits are running out.

There are over 500,000 unemployed people in Georgia and over half of them have been unemployed for over six months. Local news reports from the state show anecdotal stories of people with several years of experience not being able to get the few jobs being created because of this new hiring practice adopted by several employers.

Georgia’s Labor Commissioner has said that the practice is not considered discriminatory, but it is disappointing. Labor advocacy groups have said that the practice should be considered discrimination, especially since the move disproportionately affects minority applications. The unemployment rate for African-Americans in Georgia is nearly double that of the state average.

A. Harrison Barnes, when asked about the employment situation in the Atlanta metro area, says “While it’s true that this practice of only looking at currently employed applicants is increasing nationwide, in Atlanta there are enough job openings to give lots of unemployed people a chance.” Barnes is CEO of AtlantaMetroCrossing. AtlantaMetroCrossing is a job aggregator site that focuses on jobs in the information technology sector. The site has been able to find over 23,000 jobs in the Atlanta metro area.