05 Aug Gay people less likely to get a job compared to straights
If you are open about your sexuality or gender identity from the start, you could be denied a job that is rightfully yours.
According to a new study, people who are proud of supporting LGBT causes and state this on their resume are less likely to get a job.
Researchers sent out four fake job applications, two for each sex, to six different job sites in Cyprus.
The vacancies covered a range of work environments – offices, industry, cafes, restaurants and shops – and a total of 9,062 applications were sent out.
The covering letters and CVs contained almost identical qualifications and levels of experience, and were for 30-year-old Cypriot nationals, male and female, who were unmarried.
The only difference was in the ‘interests’ section, where one fictitious applicant had been a volunteer for an environmental charity while the other had been a member-volunteer in the Cypriot Homosexual Association.
Dr Nick Drydakis of Anglia Ruskin University, found the probability of gay male applicants receiving a job interview offer was 39% lower than for straight applicants.
For lesbians, it was 42.7% less likely to receive an interview offer compared to straight female applicants.
Drydakis said: ‘The hiring process is perhaps the single most important part of the employment relationship, but is the least understood.What is clear is that people who face biased treatment in the hiring process must spend more time and resources finding jobs, and at the same time firms are missing out on potential talent as a result of biased hiring.’
In 2010, the Equality and Human Rights Commission discovered sexual orientation can result in wage discrimination, failure to promote gays and lesbians to higher status jobs and even job dismissals.
Source: Gay Star News