Indian woman asked for height, weight, full length photo by HR during recruitment process. See post

A marketing professional has criticised HR practices in India after being asked to disclose personal details such as her height, weight, and bank statements during a recruitment process.

Identified only by her first name, Vaishnavi, the professional shared her experience with Hindustan Times, revealing that the HR executive of a luxury hospitality chain contacted her to discuss a potential role. However, during the recruitment process, Vaishnavi was asked to complete a form that left her astonished.

The form requested details including her height, weight, and bank statements, as well as a full-length photograph. Vaishnavi shared screenshots of the form on X, formerly Twitter, expressing disbelief at the request since the role was not customer-facing.

“I can't even process this. An email from the HR in a BIG company, after they sought me out and had a call with me. Unbelievable. We ARE in 2024, right?” she wrote while sharing the screenshots on X.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Vaishnavi described the request for such personal details as a major red flag. Other users on X echoed her concerns. One user questioned, “How's height and weight relevant?? Who is writing these SOPs and how is it getting approved by ANY top management?” Another user added, “And you say big company? This is beyond shocking and besides the insensitivity, do they know there is something called data privacy? What are they doing with this data - calculating average height and weight of their employees?”