According to a new study, Belfast in Northern Ireland was found to be the most inclusive city for LGBTQ+ jobseekers in the UK, beating London, Brighton and Manchester.
In light of Pride Month, new research conducted by Adzuna analysed nearly 9.7 million job vacancies across 10 different countries to reveal the cities and countries most inclusive for LGBTQ+ workers.
This study looked at the number of job advertisements proactively containing inclusive language, welcoming jobseekers of all sexual orientations to apply.
Belfast was found to be the number one city for inclusive hiring with almost a fifth of job adverts (18.5 per cent) actively encouraging jobseekers of all sexual orientations to apply. This was followed by London (9.4 per cent), Scotland (5.9 per cent) and the South East (5.9 per cent).
Despite this, the study found that globally, the UK was lagging behind with less than 6 per cent of UK job ads in total actively promoting inclusivity for the LGBTQ+ community.
Other countries such as Germany (87 per cent), New Zealand (54 per cent), Australia (34 per cent) and the US (27 per cent) outperformed the UK despite this number of inclusive job adverts doubling over the past year.
When analysing inclusivity by sector, Science & QA was found to be the most LGBTQ+ inclusive UK industry with 12.6 per cent of job ads actively promoting diversity in the workplace regardless of sexual orientation (1,567 job ads). IT was second, with 10.7 per cent of vacancies equalling 12,963 job ads actively promoting inclusivity.
However, by comparison, only 2.6 per cent of Trade and Construction vacancies and 3 per cent of Logistics and Warehouse roles are LGBTQ+ inclusive.
Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, comments:
Fewer than one-in-sixteen job ads explicitly encourage applications from the LGBTQ+ community meaning plenty of room for improvement for UK employers to press for diverse hiring.
Many employers are inclusive to LGBTQ+ workers but haven’t updated their job advert language to reflect this. But jobseekers are becoming more discerning and are increasingly looking for statements of support for minority groups when applying for roles. If you’re looking to improve the diversity of your workforce, adding inclusive language into a job ad is a simple and effective way to encourage applications from minority groups. Broadening the talent pool is also a great way to bring different perspectives and ideas to a company.
More UK employers need to become allies to the LGBTQ+ community by showing open support for its members throughout the hiring process and creating more inclusive work environments. On the global playing field, the UK is far behind Germany, Australia, New Zealand and the US in this regard. Encouraging a culturally rich workforce is crucial to strive towards wider equality.
*Adzuna collected this data between 1st and 14th May 2021.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
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