Discrimination | IBM condemned for 'racist' labels in job application

IBM has come under fire for asking job applicants to choose from a selection of racially insensitive labels when describing their ethnicity – Bloomberg.com reports.

Part of the online applications for vacancies at the tech giant comprised of a drop-down menu where applicants were asked if they identified as Caucasian, Black, Indigenous, ‘Yellow’ or ‘Mulato’.

The Telegraph states that the latter two are offensive terms referring to people of east and southeastern Asian origins and those with one white and one black parent. This has sparked public furore virally.

The technology behemoth has since apologised for the requested information regarding the applicant’s ethnicity on the company’s recruitment website. IBM Spokesperson Ed Barbini said: “Those questions were removed immediately when we became aware of the issue and we apologise.