Registry / Mechanisms / M-011

M Mechanism (M-011)

Exogenous (No Agency)

Employment Gap Downranking Bias

Automated ranking algorithms or human screeners discount candidates with recent career breaks regardless of verified project history.

Classification Facets

Actor Locus: system

Nature: bias

Visibility: inferable

Removability: none

Structural Funnel Gates (Barriers) Where Mechanism Operates

B-002: Automated Filter & Parser Threshold Stage: ingestion B-003: Inbound Screening & Triage Stage: screening

Observable Signals Emitted (Artifacts)

A-001 Fidelity: void

Complete silence after submission

A-002 Fidelity: euphemism

Generic "closer alignment" rejection template

Explicit Forensic Non-Inferences:

Employment gap does not correlate with underlying technical decline.

Causal Graph Relations

Amplifies (Increases likelihood of):

M-008: Automated Keyword / Qualification Filter

Member of Causal Loops:

L-001: Employment Gap Penalty Loop

Targeted System Interventions:

I-004: Remove Career Gap Feature from Automated Ranking Models

Disable employment duration gap penalties in recruitment AI algorithms and screening models.

Machine-readable static endpoint: /api/v1/mechanisms/M-011.json