Discrimination based on English (and accent)

I actually don't feel that we run into outright racial discrimination as much nowadays. Instead it's more subtle. It's not about technical merit, but about cultural fit.

I've noticed the same thing in the US. Who needs to discriminate by race, ethnicity, language ability, age, gender, sexual orientation, etc when you can hide behind "cultural fit" -- a quality that has yet to be challenged in court.

"Cultural fit" is a great way to make sure your dev team is a pale sausage fest, if that's what you want. Never mind that "cultural fit" is bullshit because nobody perfectly fits into an organization's culture at first. They've got to learn the ropes, but managers would rather view workers as interchangeable components instead of as human beings.

This is why we have "human resources" departments instead of "personnel" departments.

I can't speak for hiring practices at my company, but in terms of day to day job performance, I've seen instances where discrimination based on communication skills seems to be both racially and non-racially motivated.

My team is critically dependent on clear and timely communication with accurate technical and non-technical details. There are instances where some individuals are not a good fit for this department because their primary function is to facilitate high priority communications in English, and the reality is that the upper executive of the company is essentially a monoculture. So in that way, the existing structure of the company itself inherently discriminates against non-native English speakers, but it's not something the company's executives do intentionally. Overall, the company works extremely hard to foster a diverse workforce and an inclusive environment.

In nonurgent circumstances, where there is time to clarify details and discuss a situation calmly, there is no reason that ESL (or as a 3rd language) employees can't perform at the same level as a native English speaker. Everyone that has been hired for a position based on the contents of their CV (degrees, certs, etc) should be capable of using industry-standard terminology to communicate what they need to on a day-to-day basis.

There have been very rare cases where the language barrier has been so great as to be insurmountable. Opportunities for other positions or special project work is always offered if they are unable to perform their duties to a satisfactory standard.

The vast majority of people on my floor are very capable in their roles and are very nice people to boot. There have been cases over the years where some native English speaking employees have emphasized that someone else's noticeable accent or minor language barrier is a 'major issue'.

As I suspect is the case at most workplaces, there are generally people that get along with every other team in a collaborative, professional fashion, and there are employees that choose to make language barriers a sticking point.

My company, to its credit, usually identifies the right person to provide additional training or guidance as to how to conduct one's self in a professional manner.