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Inclusion, Equality & Diversity

Over half of finance employees say LGBTQ+ support at work is adequate, finds PIFA

67% of LGBTQ+ respondents said they had not experienced discrimination at work, but 38% still reported facing microaggressions.

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Pride in Finance Alliance (PIFA) has published its inaugural Industry Review, a benchmarking study looking at LGBTQ+ inclusion and support in the financial services sector.

The review found that 22.55% of respondents said they identified as LGBTQ+, which is higher than the national average. 

Just over half (53.8%) felt their workplace provided enough LGBTQ+ support. 

67% of LGBTQ+ respondents said they had not experienced discrimination at work, but 38% still reported facing microaggressions.

Nearly half (47%) of all respondents said they were managers, and of those, 88% said they were confident in supporting LGBTQ+ employees. 

However, only 48% of managers had received any kind of inclusivity training.

Just 6.3% of advisers said they had dealt with issues submitting a case for an LGBTQ+ client with a lender or insurer, mainly around name changes. 

Over half (51%) said they were confident handling cases for clients with a Gender Recognition Certificate, while 27.6% said they were not confident.

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A total of 81% of LGBTQ+ respondents said they felt supported by their manager, and 78% had discussed their identity with colleagues. 

87% of managers said they were confident addressing discrimination, but fewer workplaces had formal policies or education in place to make support consistent.

Most survey respondents were positive about the future, with 72.1% saying they were optimistic about LGBTQ+ inclusion in the industry.

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Respondents suggested more firms should adopt the PIFA Charter, grow PIFA membership to 100 firms, launch both in-person and online forums, and deliver a web platform to share good practice. 

Other themes included better communication and more inclusive marketing, broader signposting of support networks, more visible LGBTQ+ representation, and a commitment from senior leadership, HR and management to equal policies and tackling discrimination at work. 

There was also a call for more vocal allyship from the wider industry.

Will Lloyd-Hayward, project lead at PIFA, said: “Pride is a protest and a call to arms for the progress that we still need to see. 

“We need more allies, more people willing to share the burden of calling out homophobic behaviour and language, and more people standing up against any form of racism, sexism or discrimination.

“It means so much to see it happen and know that you are supported – and so we need to build and maintain our growing range of diverse networks and industry alliances.”

Lloyd-Hayward added: “We need to champion difference as the strength that it brings to our businesses and sector, because when the team we assemble and work with better represents the customers we serve, we can serve our customers better.”

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