Welcoming LGBTQs and acid attack survivors, these job fairs aim to step up corporate India’s inclusivity

• The Pride Circle launched India’s first job fair for the LGBTQ community, to be held on 12 July in Bangalore.
• The fair is expecting 50 participant companies offering IT, admin, communications and blue-collar jobs.
  
• Mumbai will also witness a ‘diversity job fair’ on 28 July — Vividh — welcoming people from all sexualities and groups including acid attack survivors.
  
• India has 5%-10% queer employees in the workforce.

The Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality in India in 2018 by scrapping Section 377. Yet, Indian companies are still a long way from hiring from the LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) community.

Addressing the discrimination faced by the coummunity in India, Pride Circle, a platform connecting job seekers with MNCs has announced a first-of-its-kind career job fair — RISE — Re-imagining Inclusion for Social Equality.

The LGBTQI job fair, which will be held on 12 July, will have nearly 50 participant companies offering IT, admin, communications and blue-collar jobs. Its aim is to create over 1,000 jobs by next year. According to The Hindu report, the organisation received nearly 80 resumes so far, and is expecting around 400 LGBTQ participants.

The career fair will be conducted from 1 pm to 5:30 pm at the Lalit Ashok Hotel in Bangalore.

Mumbai will hold a smiliar job fair on 28 July — Vividh — bringing together talent from various groups including acid attack survivors, people with disabilities and queer community.

“Not a job fair, but a diversity fair,” Praful Baweja, Co-Founder of 6 Degrees told Network18. The fair will have on-the-spot interviews, CV submissions for all candidates, regardless of their age and sexuality, aiming to create inclusivity at workplace.

Diversity at workplace

India has nearly 5%-10% queer employees in the workforce. Of this, over half of them reported discrimination at work.

The 2016 World Bank report suggests that India recorded a loss of $32 billion because of homophobia.

Corporates in India are adapting to inclusivity in their hiring policies, though slowly.

The first step has been taken by multinational and large organizations. IBM, Accenture, Cognizant and Tech Mahindra are among those who extended medical insurance to same-sex partners among the LGBTQ employees. Several IBM employees have ‘come out’ with their sexuality at work, ET reported citing Prachi Rastogi, IBM India’s Diversity and Inclusion Leader.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is reportedly considering internship programs for transgenders.

Foodtech unicorn Zomato announced an ‘inclusive parental leave policy’ allowing 26-week paid leave to new parents — including same sex partners in case of adoption.

See also:
For the LGBTQ community in India, online dating platforms are helping break down stigmas

Sexual harassment at educational institutions a challenge for India's LGBTQ community, finds UNESCO report

The 13 top Fortune-ranked companies for LGBTQ employees