70% LGBTQIA+ employees in India, versus 42% globally, face non-inclusive behaviour: Deloitte’s 2023 LGBT+ Inclusion @ Work Survey

Over 5,400 non-Deloitte LGBT+ respondents from 13 countries participated in Deloitte’s Global 2023 LGBT+ Inclusion @ Work survey. (Photo: Nikolas Gannon via Unsplash)

Over 5,400 non-Deloitte LGBT+ respondents from 13 countries working across sectors participated in Deloitte’s Global 2023 LGBT+ Inclusion @ Work survey. This is the first year the organisation has conducted such a survey.

Among other things, the survey findings reveal that “one-third of respondents are looking to move to a more LGBT+ inclusive employer,” reflecting the ever-evolving approach of the new workforce towards seeking employment. Further, it underlines the fact that for Gen Z and millennial employees, the emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is particularly important.

Eight percent, around 445, of the survey’s respondents were Indians. (See India-specific findings here.) They share five factors they consider while evaluating an employer:

1.       The opportunity to take part in workplace’s initiatives on inclusion and diversity

2.      The company’s external commitment to LGBT+ inclusion (e.g., presence at pride events/marches)

3.      A diverse workforce

4.      The company’s internal commitment to LGBT+ inclusion (e.g., presence of an Employee Resource Group [ERG])

5.      Leaders who are LGBT+ and out

As more and more LGBTQIA+ employees in India (70 per cent versus 42 per cent globally) experience non-inclusive behaviour — microaggression and harassment, they place a particular emphasis on working for LGBTQIA+ inclusive organisations.

When there’s rampant discrimination and fear among people to come out at the workplaces, Moneycontrol wanted to know how did then the organisation conducted this survey, what measures it took to safeguard the respondents’ identity and reached out to DEI leaders in India to learn from them if they feel the India-specific findings of the report are consistent with the reality on the ground.

Deloitte confirmed that “the quantitative survey was ‘double blind’.” Neither the respondents’ identity nor the companies they work for were known to Deloitte, as it employed a third-party survey provider to source participants. “Obviously, there are some countries where it is not possible to ask questions about LGBT+ inclusion and this was a factor in determining the countries where we conducted our survey,” the organisation informed Moneycontrol on the geographical reach of the survey.

“They’ve covered many continents, so it’s fairly global,” says the founder of  Samãna Centre, Aparna Mittal, a leading DEI advisor and corporate lawyer with 19-plus years of experience. She continues, “This report, through clear data, mirrors the unfortunate reality we know exists around us — of discrimination, harassment, homo/transphobia, and that many companies are now trying to address this.”

She further adds that “the younger generation is more aware. If they’ve two comparable offers, they’ll definitely go for the company that’s walking the talk and not just changing the logo colour during pride month.” Mittal then says that companies should shoulder the responsibility for what they’re representing to the world. “And if they’re misrepresenting that the company is LGBTQ+ inclusive and fail to deliver on this promise, there’ll always be resentment due to lack of physical/psychological safety and inclusion at the company for the LGBTQ+ community. Unfortunately, this resentment doesn’t often find voice internally at the company because either there are no policies/forums for internal reporting of issues or employees are worried about retaliation and job loss.”

Regarding the data-collection exercise, she says, “Anyone conducting a survey focused on the LGBTQ+ community must be credible. They should do it ethically, and maintain high standards of confidentiality of the participants’ identity. Even an inadvertent breach of confidentiality or of anonymity can expose the surveyed participants to homo/transphobia, and endanger their safety. The survey questions should be drafted in a sensitive manner, and the details captured must not seek personal data. It’s good to see credible global organisations like Deloitte conducting such surveys, as we can assume they understand the associated risks for the participants and have requisite checks and balances and safeguarding protocols in place.”

And the same is reflected in the organisation’s response to several questions, especially on the challenging aspect of conducting this survey and the language it uses. “During the planning stage, in addition to seeking all-important lived experience views on the question set, we constantly revisited and reviewed the language and terminology that we were planning to use in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity in the report. While we aimed to reflect the reality of the diversity in the LGBT+ community, as a global report, we also needed to keep the word choices as universal as possible for ease of comprehension across countries and cultures. For instance, the LGBT+ acronym is used throughout the survey for consistency and includes anyone who does not identify as heterosexual and cisgender,” the organisation tells Moneycontrol.

Writer, translator, and founder of Pink List India, Anish Gawande, however, doubts the representation of the survey, for he feels that the sample size was too less for a country of over 1.2 billion people. He further adds, “Are its findings limited to English-speaking, metropolitan, organised sector employees at a time when 83% of Indians work in the unorganised sector? Absolutely. Does this mean that Deloitte’s survey findings are irrelevant to India? Absolutely not. I hope they’ll be used by companies to create safe spaces for employees to come out at work, support employees in gender-affirmative care, provide equal partner benefits to queer employees, and institute strong anti-discrimination policies.”

What Gawande emphasises is the need for “companies to go one step further.” He says, “CEOs of large firms are more likely to get an audience with the Prime Minister, or other ministers than any LGBTQ+ activist is. Will they walk the talk on equality by raising the concerns of their queer employees before those in positions of power? I’d like to see corporate leaders push for marriage equality, encourage amendments to the Transgender Persons Act, [and] create forums for discussions on conversion therapy. I’m glad corporate India is taking [the] initiative towards building a more inclusive workspace, but what is lacking is innovation. If we can have 100 different designs for smartphones, why can’t we have 100 different ways of pushing for change?”