Why we don’t see many LGBTQ+ leaders in corporate India

A lot of good cultural change happens from the top. While allyship and sensitive leadership are powerful, not many from the LGBTQ+ population get hired in senior positions where they can affect policy change.  

A January 2022 study by HR services firm Randstad India showed that only 9.5 per cent of the surveyed organisations had made significant efforts to be LGBTQ+ inclusive, of which a majority was MNCs. Moreover, most of the conscious LGBTQ+ hirings take place at the junior (33 per cent) and middle levels (31 per cent). Ramkrishna Sinha, Co-founder of Pride Circle, which conducts job fairs for the LGBTQ+ population, said, “There is greater awareness and hence more conversions [from interviews to hiring]. But the hiring is still largely in the fresher to 5-year experience bracket.” The organisation has placed more than 750 people over the past five years and Sinha said they are seeing year-on-year growth.

Axis Bank’s VP & Head (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) Harish Iyer, who identifies as gender fluid and gay, said: “We (the LGBTQ+ population) have people in the middle- and lower-management levels who identify as queer, but not in the top management. That’s the case with queer people worldwide.”

It is not that companies are not looking to hire for senior positions, added Pride Circle’s Sinha. “People also must be comfortable to engage. The more senior people have been in the closet for a longer period and feel that they have a lot at stake career-wise, if they come out. Fewer of them are accessing avenues that support LGBTQ+ people with jobs.” Organisations said they can neither force people to disclose their identities nor can they push people after entry levels to get promoted because they are from a diverse background. Manmeet Sandhu, Head of HR at fintech start-up PhonePe, said there continues to be a fear of disclosing identities in this macro environment. “At least, we are able to do focussed recruitment. But my counterparts in the UK, the Netherlands and Canada cannot even do such drives because one is not allowed to encroach into privacy and say ‘I want an LGBTQ+ leader’,” said Tata Steel’s Atrayee Sanyal, Vice President of HRM. The best possible thing to do is to ensure more and more LGBTQ+ candidates enter the fray to increase the probability of promotions, say the corporates. For that to happen, experts say both employers and employees must come on board to turn baby steps into a 24x7 way of being, 365 days a year. Just populating June, the Pride month, with rainbow arches and flags will not do.