On May 8, Pride Circle a diversity and inclusion organisation will conduct a job fair. The year is 2021, so it is a no-brainer to guess that the event is virtual. But that is not the only thing that sets it apart. This is also Asia's largest job fair for the LGBT+ community.
The process is quite simple. A job seeker from the LGBT+ community has to submit their resume online to Pride Circle, which then does a skill matrix match and share CVs with companies seeking corresponding skill sets. These are companies that have registered themselves with pride circle, confirming that theirs is an inclusive and safe workspace. Some of them include HSBC, Twitter, Uber, Netflix and Wells Fargo.
"Our job is primarily to work towards LGBT inclusion. Here, we work both with the community and the companies who are inclusive and help them in skill-building," says Ramkrishna Sinha, co-founder, Pride Circle. They also conduct upskilling workshops and make sure that the people from the LGBT+ community aren't discriminated against.
Sinha and Srini Ramaswamy started Pride Circle in 2017. "We have been working in this sector for more than a decade. So, we are familiar with companies working in this space," he says. Apart from this, Pride Circle also has a range of programs including the India Workspace Equality Entrance, where they rank companies based on the data that is shared with them. The companies are not just ranked based on this, but the organisation also shares resources with them, helping them to be more inclusive.
For a company to register at the job fair, Sinha says that a company has to submit a letter saying that they want to be part of the job fair. "That itself is a great indicator of intent. It is a different thing to issue a statement and be part of a pride march. But by taking part in a job fair, you're making a commitment to say that you're promising an inclusive workspace," he says. While the actual job fair is yet to happen, Sinha proudly says that a few companies have already started rolling out offers. Despite the economic slowdown, they expect at least 100 jobs to be created.
