LGBTQI* People on the Labor Market: Highly Educated, Frequently Discriminated Against

Abstract

Societal acceptance of the LGBTQI* people has greatly improved over the past decades in Germany and legal equal treatment on the labor market has been improved by the General Equal Treatment Act (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz, AGG). However, about 30 percent of those who identify as LGBTQI* report experiencing discrimination in their work life, according to the results of a survey conducted by the Socio-Economic Panel and Bielefeld University. Similarly, around a third of LGBTQI* people are either not out or are only partly out to their colleagues. Trans* people in particular report experiencing discrimination more frequently in their work life. An LGBTQI*-friendly corporate climate is one of the most important criteria when LGBTQI* people are picking a future employer. A more LGBTQI*-friendly work environment may reduce short- and long-term labor market disadvantages of (potential) employees substantially and may increase the appeal of companies for LGBTQI* people, who are higher educated on average than the heterosexual population.