More than one third of trans employees have ‘quit their job due to work discrimination’

36% of transgender workers have quit their job

Nearly 40 per cent of trans workers said discrimination was most likely to come from colleagues (Getty Images)

More than one third of transgender employees have left their job because of discrimination at the office, a new report has found.

Some 36 per cent of transgender workers have quit their job and as much as 60 per cent have experienced some form of transphobic discrimination in the workplace according to a research by Totaljobs, a UK jobs website, which surveyed 450 transgender employees in March 2016.

Nearly 40 per cent of trans workers said discrimination was most likely to come from colleagues, while only 25 per cent said it came from management. This has led to more than one third of trans people leaving a job because the environment was unwelcoming.

The data showed that things are starting to change, however.

Half of those surveyed said understanding of trans workers had improved or that they had received positive reactions from fellow workers when they transitioned, due to better coverage in the media.

John Salt, group sales director, Totaljobs, said that more could be done.

“Sadly, discrimination in the workplace has been compounded by a lack of support from employers,” he said.

“A diverse workplace fosters greater creativity and benefit, company culture, not just skills and experience, but by creating an environment where people enjoy to work,” Salt added.

The first-ever parliamentary inquiry into trans discrimination found “high levels of transphobia” across society, undermining the careers, life chances and health of over half a million people.

The House of Commons Equalities Committee called for “root-and-branch” reform of the way public institutions deal with transgender people in January. It said the Government should formulate a comprehensive strategy to address the issue within six months.

“Transgender people are today suffering the kind of discrimination that was faced by gays and lesbians decades ago,” Maria Miller, the committee’s chair, told The Independent.

“They are the last group of people in our society who endure overt and unchallenged prejudice and we need urgent root-and-branch reform of our public services to tackle it.”