The reason for not including pictures is entirely a legal issue. If a picture is included in the resume and the company decides to not hire that person (despite being qualified), they could sue for discrimination. If the company instead throws out ALL resumes with pictures, they don't ever get sued. Logically, any company that is large enough to have a legal team should be expected to throw out all resumes with pictures on them for this reason.
It is common practice at larger companies now to also obfuscate names of candidates to further eliminate bias and lawsuits.
It is common practice at larger companies now to also obfuscate names of candidates to further eliminate bias and lawsuits.