Chinese firm rules out Scorpios, Virgos

The unusual requirements are part of a job ad posted at a university in the central city of Wuhuan by an English language training company, and have generated a storm of online controversy since they were uncovered this week.

“We don’t want Scorpios or Virgos, and Capricorns, Pisces and Libras will be prioritised,” the job spec reads, according to the Chutian Metropolis Daily, a local newspaper in Wuhan.

The report quoted a woman in charge at the unnamed firm as saying she had done research and found Scorpios had strong personalities and were moody, while Virgos were hugely critical and did not stay in one job for long.

“I hired people with those two star signs before, and they either liked quarrelling with colleagues or they could not do the job for long,” the woman, surnamed Xia, said.

The report did not mention why the other three star signs were better for the positions advertised — teachers and clerks — but quoted another example of similar discrimination in the same city.

A student called Qi Qin, whose star sign is Cancer, applied for a job with a wedding company two months ago, but was sacked because “Aquarius and Scorpios are more suited to the job,” the report said.

“Qi Qin pointed out that her star sign was not something she could decide,” it added.

The story has gone viral on the Internet, with commentators ridiculing what they say is blatant employment discrimination.

“So now they look at your star sign when you apply for a job. I’m a Scorpio, so I’m doomed to go beg on the streets with a bag,” one person said on Sina’s popular Twitter-like weibo service.

“I’m a gorgeous Leo, so do I stand more of a chance in applying for leadership positions?” another wrote.

This is not the first time that unusual job requirements have sparked controversy in China.

State media reported in 2004 that one of the requirements for women applying to join the civil service in the central province of Hunan was for their “two breasts to be symmetrical.”

It is unclear why this was required, but news reports quoted local officials as saying the rule would soon be abolished, adding that no candidate had been rejected for that reason.