His application to Migros turns into an “absurd” recruitment

Shelf filler at Migros Geneva (35%). The ideal position to "make a profit," according to the retail giant's online ad . But when it came time to apply, Eric* says he was met with a cold shower.

"The candidate is redirected to an external platform called HireUp, where they are required to create an account. From there, the process becomes completely disproportionate: a personality test with statements like "are you more of a truth-twister? Or do you often feel sad?", followed by a long, 70-step questionnaire with choices like "would you rather be admired or earn a lot of money?" All for a simple shelf-stacking job. It's absurd," the candidate fumes.

But what happens next is even more troubling. "At the end of the tests, the platform indicates that it will analyze our profile to 'offer us positions.' At this point, we no longer know if we have actually applied to Migros or if we have been sucked into an opaque system of generalized profiling, whose primary purpose seems to be to feed HireUp's database."

For Eric, this approach poses a real ethical problem and "harms confidence in recruitment processes and the very dignity of job seekers."

Migros Geneva boasts " recruiting personalities. Without a CV ," thanks to this partnership with HireUp, a Geneva-based placement firm based in Carouge. According to the orange giant, the filler position "is particularly suited to an innovative approach to recruitment. For the time being, this is a limited test of this offer, specifically to measure its effects before any possible expansion."

Migros Geneva assures that the position does indeed exist and that data protection is respected. Validated applications "are forwarded to store managers, who then recruit in the traditional manner. This project aims to reconcile recruitment efficiency and equal access to employment. Selection is based on anonymized and objective elements (aptitudes, soft skills, commitment). This allows for a preselection based solely on the relevance of the profile, similar to a "The Voice" of recruitment. Since its launch, more than 50 people have been hired."