Europe’s most inclusive countries for LGBT+ professionals

June marks Pride Month, so Reboot Digital PR Company decided to apply its data expertise to discover which European countries offer the best workplace prospects for LGBT+ professionals. Based on figures from FRA and Eurostat, they analysed factors that contribute to workplace inclusivity to create a points-based index that determines which country comes out on top.

Belgium is crowned the best European country for LGBT+ workers with 8.7 points out of a possible 10. Despite LGBT+ workers having a low percentage of employment rate (17% less than non-LGBT+ Belgians), they still score 10 points out of a possible 10 for workplace representation.

Luxemburg claims second place with a total of 8.3 points out of a possible 10. Luxemburg has a 19% difference in the employment rate of LGBT+ workers (versus non-LGBT+ workers), which places the country behind Belgium in terms of workplace representation (9.3/10). Data analysis reveals that over 7 in 10 LGBT+ Luxembourgers are either selectively open or hide their sexuality at work, resulting in 7.2 points scored for openness at work (7.2/10).

Coming in at third place is Denmark with 8.1 points out of a possible 10. Despite scoring the highest rate for most of the factors analysed, Danes still seem to face a lack of diversity in the workforce. LGBT+ workers face a 30% lower employment rate than other professionals, placing Denmark behind countries such as Hungary with 2.4 points for workplace representation.

The Czech Republic makes the top 15 with 4.6 points out of 10. Despite scoring just 4.1 points for workplace equality, it still puts them ahead of Malta (3.1 points) as the 16% of LGBT+ Malteses have experienced workplace discrimination compared to 13% of Czechs – surprising considering that Malta has been recognised for providing the most progressive LGBT+ rights amongst European nations for 6 consecutive years.

At the bottom of the pile are Cyprus and Lithuania, making it into 26th place with 1.7 points out of a possible 10. Although Cyprus has changed some of its human rights legislation since joining the European Union, the zero points for workplace equality suggests that LGBT+ Cypriots still face discrimination in the workplace. Likewise, Lithuania received zero points for workplace representation, probably reflecting the limited rights that LGBT+ Lithuanians encounter such as non-recognition of civil same-sex partnerships or same-sex marriage.