Engineering news
No engineering companies made it into gay right’s charity Stonewall’s 2016 top 100 list of best employers for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff.
More than 400 organisations took part in this year’s Equality Index, the highest in its 12-year history. The survey assesses staff engagement, career development and other factors for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) staff.
Stonewall’s Kris Phelps told PE: “Engineering companies have been late to the table on this, but there is plenty of work going on now. Companies are starting to realise that LGBT employees are integral to their productivity.”
He added: “I expect engineering companies to join the top 100 in the next two to three years. Joining the survey is a real commitment that everything is in place, to ensure people can be themselves at work and therefore be at their most productive, everything needs to be right.”
The list was full of companies that employ engineers, most notably: MI5 (ranked first), The Royal Navy (10), The Army (32), BP (43), and EDF Energy (68).
Helen Meese, IMechE’s head of engineering in society, said: “IMechE’s Equality and Diversity Steering Committee is working very closely with companies to help promote the issue and has been for sometime. It working with companies such as BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, and Foster Wheeler.
“It would be nice to see engineering companies on the list, but it can take time to develop a strategy, it’s important to get it right, to make sure we are on the list in the future.”
The Stonewall list comes after the report Engineering Action: Tackling Homophobia in Engineering, published in December, suggested that homophobia is costing the sector £11.2 billion a year.