Time for employers to come out

Diversity and inclusion can mean many things to many people. It can evoke an emotional experience when, for whatever reason, someone found themselves to be ‘different’. Or it can conjure up the moment that - whether as a child, teen or adult - someone began to realise they didn’t quite fit the mould ready-made for them.

I remember vividly the lengths I went to cover it up. So after finally coming out, to have a recruiter say only a few years ago ‘I’d take off the gay and LGBT stuff on your CV, it’ll limit your options’ was a stark reminder of the pressure to keep silent. I didn’t change my CV one bit – but how many would have accepted such dreadful advice?

Thankfully, diversity and inclusion is firmly on the business agenda. It’s obvious why – firms who take gender and ethnic diversity seriously outperform their competitors. This be