Majority of employers not targeting LGBTQIA+ community

A new survey has shown there are not enough UK businesses proactively engaging with and recruiting the LGBTQIA+ community.

According to the WilsonHCG’s talent intelligence and labour market analytics platform, less than 2% of jobs in the UK are aimed at this demographic.

The findings, using data provided by Claro Analytics, show that just 1.5% of job postings in the UK mentioned LGBTQIA+ terms in May 2024 – this is only 0.2% higher than last year.

The Communications Services sector was found to have the lowest levels of job postings highlighting LGBTQIA+ terms (at just 0.8%). At the same time, Financial Services, Consumer Discretionary and IT reported the highest levels (12.7%, 6.1% and 5.9% respectively).

Janine Chidlow, Managing Director at WilsonHCG, commented on the findings, “Pride Month has been celebrated for many years now, yet in the recruitment and employment landscape, progress has seemingly stalled.

“We would have expected to see more growth in the last year than we have in terms of job postings that proactively push LGBTQIA+ incentives. Not only is it the right thing to do but employers that develop inclusive and diverse environments will also find it easier to attract and retain top talent, which is a critical issue in light of the ongoing skills shortages affecting some markets.

“Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB), needs to be a critical focus for businesses, rather than a ‘nice to have’ incentive when the economic climate allows for investment in diversity.

“In fact, it was concerning to see in a recent poll of our LinkedIn network that only a quarter of respondents felt that their organisation was committed to DEIB, with less than half (49%) stating their employer was very committed.”

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