KUALA LUMPUR: SEEK Ltd (SEEK), the parent company of employment platforms JobStreet and JobsDB, has appointed Scott Stiles as its special advisor for fair hiring practices across Malaysia and Asia.
In his role, Scott will be responsible for identifying risks and vulnerabilities in SEEK's processes and platforms that unscrupulous people could exploit before working with relevant teams to address potential issues.
"He will champion initiatives that can help provide job seekers with clarity and awareness of their rights and warnings about known unfair hiring practices, particularly affecting migrant, manual, and domestic workers," SEEK Asia chief executive officer Peter Bithos said in a statement today.
According to the Global Slavery Index, there are six modern slavery victims for every thousand people across Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
This is equivalent to 2.9 million men, women, and children living in modern slavery in the region.
Peter said the company is committed to providing trusted and valid platforms for workers to find decent jobs and for employers to hire ethically, safeguarding against the risk of modern slavery.
"Bringing Scott on board is only the beginning of our continuous, long-term effort to help end pockets of slavery in the region," added Peter.
Scott will also lead broader, strategic initiatives with partners and governments across the region to promote fair-hiring practices with the long-term aspiration of ending modern slavery in all its forms.
He will report to SEEK Asia chief strategy officer Michele Manigart who said that the company is set to benefit from Scott's experience and deep understanding of the region's labour rights and issues.
"Scott also has a clear passion for human rights and a strong desire to make a real impact in this area," she said.
Formerly the co-founder and former chief executive officer of Hong Kong-based Fair Employment Foundation (Fair), Scott had previously built a group of social enterprises focused on using market-based interventions to eliminate forced labour of migrant workers across Asia.
"I have always believed that forced labour and unfair hiring are solvable global problems," Scott said.
"The progress we have seen in the last nine years has shown this to be true, but these are deeply ingrained issues that require region-wide market intervention over a sustained period," he said.
"SEEK's platforms make us uniquely well positioned to drive this change."
In Malaysia, JobStreet is spearheaded by managing director Vic Sithasanan who would work closely with Scott to ensure safe and fair employment outcomes for candidates.