LGBT Career Fair

[losh14]

Well this is interesting.
My company wants to have a table at a “diversity” job fair, which includes, among other foci, recruitment specifically of LGBT people. HR has asked for representatives of each department to come and chat up candidates, and my boss mentioned it’d be something I’d be good at.

Note that I’m entirely free to turn it down for any reason, so no pressure. But I wonder - is it ethical to specifically attempt to recruit someone to my company because they’re gay? Or black? I know the company is doing it because we have a reputation for being very white (you can just look over the cube walls and see that), and, I guess, for being very hetero?

I don’t get it. At some point we lost the idea of “find the best candidate who can do the best job”.

 

[seakelp]

It’s perfectly fine to reach out to potential employees that belong to certain groups.

It gets more dicey if you hire a particular individual BECAUSE they belong to some minority group.

 

[naomily]

A LGBTQ person might not consider applying for a job unless they were certain it was a safe work environment for them. All you’re doing is extending a hand. Once they apply, it’s up to the hiring manager.

 

[Corki]

Well this is interesting.
My company wants to have a table at a “diversity” job fair, which includes, among other foci, recruitment specifically of LGBT people. HR has asked for representatives of each department to come and chat up candidates, and my boss mentioned it’d be something I’d be good at.

Note that I’m entirely free to turn it down for any reason, so no pressure. But I wonder - is it ethical to specifically attempt to recruit someone to my company because they’re gay? Or black? I know the company is doing it because we have a reputation for being very white (you can just look over the cube walls and see that), and, I guess, for being very hetero?

I don’t get it. At some point we lost the idea of “find the best candidate who can do the best job”.

If it were me, I would turn it down. In the current state of affairs, at least in the US, it is very hard to distinguish between being open to all kinds of diversity in an organization (good) and endorsing immoral activities (bad). By participating in this job fair are you sending a message of inclusiveness or of permissiveness?

Ethically, it’s a good thing to encourage lots of different people to **apply for jobs as long as those differences (race, gender, LGBT, etc) aren’t used as a basis for hiring. It would be just as unethical (and illegal) to hire someone because **they are “gay” or black as it would be to not hire them for those reasons.

 

[RosslynV]

Doubt your company is looking for construction workers or truck drivers

 

[coachdennis]

Well this is interesting.
My company wants to have a table at a “diversity” job fair, which includes, among other foci, recruitment specifically of LGBT people. HR has asked for representatives of each department to come and chat up candidates, and my boss mentioned it’d be something I’d be good at.

Note that I’m entirely free to turn it down for any reason, so no pressure. But I wonder - is it ethical to specifically attempt to recruit someone to my company because they’re gay? Or black? I know the company is doing it because we have a reputation for being very white (you can just look over the cube walls and see that), and, I guess, for being very hetero?

I don’t get it. At some point we lost the idea of “find the best candidate who can do the best job”.

Since…

a) there is no pressure on you to do this particular function and
b) you seem to doubt the “validity”, "“morality”, or the “right judgment” of your company pursuing attending this job,
c) which means perhaps your boss is incorrect in assuming that you would be best for this task.

Taking all those factors into consideration, I would suggest declining the offer to participate. There is however, option “D” and “E”

d) Talk to your boss or someone in the company about why they are pursuing this tactic and have they done this with Afro-American or Hispanic work fairs? This may ease your mind.

e) Pray about it

 

[naomily]

Doubt your company is looking for construction workers or truck drivers

This is offensive not only to the LGBTQ community for obvious reasons but also implies companies *don’t *need construction workers and truck drivers, both of which are legitimate in-demand jobs.

So we’ve got some classism as well homophobic stereotypes. Good job! I love seeing Catholics show each other respect and kindness.

 

[seakelp]

This is offensive not only to the LGBTQ community for obvious reasons but also implies companies *don’t *need construction workers and truck drivers, both of which are legitimate in-demand jobs.

So we’ve got some classism as well homophobic stereotypes. Good job! I love seeing Catholics show each other respect and kindness.

I’m sure Rosslyn didn’t mean to cause offense, but you are correct. The comments might have been unintentionally offensive.

EDIT: I was referring to the homosexuality aspect, I think you’re overreading re: classism.

 

[PJH_74]

I see no ethical issue pursuing a social or ethnic minority if that group is under represented in a company. I doubt the law would either.

Even from a Catholic teaching perspective, which calls for LGBT people to be treated with respect, I see no issue. This has nothing to do with marriage or sex (which shouldn’t be part of your job anyway!) and everything to do with a minority being able to earn a living, a basic right by any measure.

 

[Deus_tecum]

Quite a few gays are of an activist mindset, so once they get in a company they will demand special protections and treatment, which means they can express their sexual POV, and probably even describe the acts in detail, while Christians speaking of Christian moral standards will be silenced. But go ahead, all you who idolize “diversity”. Get some Muslim jihadists too while your at it.

 

[PJH_74]

Quite a few gays are of an activist mindset, so once they get in a company they will demand special protections and treatment, which means they can express their sexual POV, and probably even describe the acts in detail,

No problem making a large generalization I see. Believe me, I don’t want to hear about anyone’s sex life at work. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone.

 

[signit]

No problem making a large generalization I see. Believe me, I don’t want to hear about anyone’s sex life at work. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone.

And, as I’ve said before, that’s conduct and not orientation, and your company probably has a policy against that kind of talk at work.

 

[kozlosap]

Doubt your company is looking for construction workers or truck drivers

My nephew and his partner have been together fifteen years. They are both physicians. I bet they don’t want a truck driver in their specialities either unless they are on the operating room table. Just say’n, stereotypes doesn’t help anyone learn about each other and their dreams and hopes and families.

 

[kozlosap]

-]/-]

Quite a few gays are of an activist mindset, so once they get in a company they will demand special protections and treatment, which means they can express their sexual POV, and probably even describe the acts in detail, while Christians speaking of Christian moral standards will be silenced. But go ahead, all you who idolize “diversity”. Get some Muslim jihadists too while your at it.

While you are recruiting, sounds to me like your group would certainly need a white supremest and an anti- education neanderthal. Of course, women need not apply…

 

[Corki]

I see no ethical issue pursuing a social or ethnic minority if that group is under represented in a company. I doubt the law would either.

Even from a Catholic teaching perspective, which calls for LGBT people to be treated with respect, I see no issue. This has nothing to do with marriage or sex (which shouldn’t be part of your job anyway!) and everything to do with a minority being able to earn a living, a basic right by any measure.

And that would be a good thing but it is not usually the focus or intent of a diversity job fair.

Quite a few gays are of an activist mindset, so once they get in a company they will demand special protections and treatment, which means they can express their sexual POV, and probably even describe the acts in detail, while Christians speaking of Christian moral standards will be silenced.

And this is the problem. Organizers of these events are usually looking for companies that want to be recognized as LGBT “friendly” which means special benefits, programs and protections for those who identify as LGBT. And they aren’t particularly interested in “inclusion” beyond the inclusion of their own group. These are not the kinds of things that Catholics should support.

 

[RosslynV]

This is offensive not only to the LGBTQ community for obvious reasons but also implies companies *don’t *need construction workers and truck drivers, both of which are legitimate in-demand jobs.

So we’ve got some classism as well homophobic stereotypes. Good job! I love seeing Catholics show each other respect and kindness.

Its a joke. Hypersensitive crowd at times on this forum.

 

[esieffe]

Quite a few gays are of an activist mindset, so once they get in a company they will demand special protections and treatment, which means they can express their sexual POV, and probably even describe the acts in detail, while Christians speaking of Christian moral standards will be silenced. But go ahead, all you who idolize “diversity”. Get some Muslim jihadists too while your at it.

I worked for Fortune100 Company for over a decade. The absolute easiest way to be terminated, is to have one or more sexual harassment claims lodged against you. All employees usually attend mandatory periodic training about this and have to sign agreements stating they know what the rules are.

At my company, you could be reported for being overheard, telling a nasty joke. It was considered a risk to even hug someone while on the clock. Loosing a few million here and there over a lawsuit like this is no joke to a large multinational corporation. If you just mentioned the letters HR some faces would go pale.

That being said, we had gays, blacks, whites, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, and every flavor of Christian there was. We had very few problems with anyone, other than some ex-husbands and some downtown office creepers that circumvented security somehow.
We all got along fine. No one wanted to lose their job. Never saw any activists, except on the streets. Greenpeace did climb our building once.

Jobs are too hard to come by now. Most people just want to keep what they have, not further some agenda. There is not an “agenda” button on the payment kiosk at the grocery store.

 

[Corki]

I worked for Fortune100 Company for over a decade. The absolute easiest way to be terminated, is to have one or more sexual harassment claims lodged against you. All employees usually attend mandatory periodic training about this and have to sign agreements stating they know what the rules are.

At my company, you could be reported for being overheard, telling a nasty joke. It was considered a risk to even hug someone while on the clock. Loosing a few million here and there over a lawsuit like this is no joke to a large multinational corporation. If you just mentioned the letters HR some faces would go pale.

That being said, we had gays, blacks, whites, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, and every flavor of Christian there was. We had very few problems with anyone, other than some ex-husbands and some downtown office creepers that circumvented security somehow.
We all got along fine. No one wanted to lose their job. Never saw any activists, except on the streets. Greenpeace did climb our building once.

Jobs are too hard to come by now. Most people just want to keep what they have, not further some agenda. There is not an “agenda” button on the payment kiosk at the grocery store.

I don’t think that’s the kind of activism he was referring to. I was one of those scary HR people for most of my career. The kind of activism HR would generally be subject to includes, in the case of LGBT “diversity”: a hard push for same-sex partner benefits, the elimination of any reference to spouses (if in a state that does not recognize SS"M"), a push for affinity groups for LGBT employees, pressure on the company’s executives and/or shareholders to distance the company from support for traditional marriage, insistence on sensitivity training for managers, insisting that managers support and encourage “coming out” in the workplace,etc.

 

[Deus_tecum]

I don’t think that’s the kind of activism he was referring to. I was one of those scary HR people for most of my career. The kind of activism HR would generally be subject to includes, in the case of LGBT “diversity”: a hard push for same-sex partner benefits, the elimination of any reference to spouses (if in a state that does not recognize SS"M"), a push for affinity groups for LGBT employees, pressure on the company’s executives and/or shareholders to distance the company from support for traditional marriage, insistence on sensitivity training for managers, insisting that managers support and encourage “coming out” in the workplace,etc.

Exactly, and vocal support for traditional marriage is considered by the activist gay to be “anti-gay” and “homophobic”, and is therefore considered to be an “attack” and then pressure mounts for the person who supports traditional marriage to be terminated. I am not talking about a Catholic who hands out fliers at work. I am talking about people who just casually mention their beliefs. Meanwhile vocal support for gay marriage is seen as protected free speech.

 

[Joie_de_Vivre]

Exactly, and vocal support for traditional marriage is considered by the activist gay to be “anti-gay” and “homophobic”, and is therefore considered to be an “attack” and then pressure mounts for the person who supports traditional marriage to be terminated. I am not talking about a Catholic who hands out fliers at work. I am talking about people who just casually mention their beliefs. Meanwhile vocal support for gay marriage is seen as protected free speech.

You forgot about them being hipsters and using fetuses to make trendy and fabulous bread.