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posted by martyb on Thursday October 20 2016, @09:33AM   Printer-friendly
from the mandatory-opt-in dept.

It is illegal today to use DNA testing for employment, but as science advances its understanding of genes that correlate to certain desirable traits -- such as leadership and intelligence -- business may want this information.

People seeking leadership roles in business, or even those in search of funding for a start-up, may volunteer their DNA test results to demonstrate that they have the right aptitude, leadership capabilities and intelligence for the job.

This may sound farfetched, but it's possible based on the direction of the science, according to Gartner analysts David Furlonger and Stephen Smith, who presented their research at the firm's Symposium IT/xpo here. This research is called "maverick" in Gartner parlance, meaning it has a somewhat low probability and is still years out, but its potential is nonetheless worrisome to the authors.

Businesses could also weed out people with diabetes, heart defects, and any other congenital defects that can lead to absenteeism.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday October 20 2016, @05:03PM

    by sjames (2882) on Thursday October 20 2016, @05:03PM (#416786) Journal

    This story sounds like some HR person looking at a resume from someone with a 25-year career, major accomplishments, well-known name in the field, and throwing it into the trash because, "Gee, this guy got his undergrad degree from a state school?? Obviously people like that can't do as well in the world as some of these other candidates with better pedigrees."

    This sounds EXACTLY like what an HR department would do. HR departments are well known to roundfile resumes based on unimportant requirements that were never requested by the manager that requested the job posting.

    Laws will need to be quite sure to ban the practice entirely. Otherwise, potential employees who know their genetic profile will meet HR standards (even if that has nothing to do with actual suitability) will happily volunteer for the test and HR departments will presume anyone who doesn't volunteer would have failed the test anyway.

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  • (Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday October 21 2016, @02:10PM

    by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Friday October 21 2016, @02:10PM (#417251) Journal

    Yep, that was my point precisely. HR departments do stupid stuff in hiring. TFA also sounds like it would do stupid stuff in hiring. HR would love it. Q.E.D. :)