LGBTQ+ workers are generally less satisfied with their employers than their straight, cisgender colleagues are, according to a new report from Glassdoor. But some companies are more popular with their LGBTQ+ employees than others.
Google, Microsoft, IBM and Apple all ranked among the top 10 companies on Glassdoor with the highest ratings for LGBTQ+ workers, Glassdoor announced Tuesday. The tech industry in general earned the second-best average industry rating for LGBTQ+ employees, yet LGBTQ+ workers have relatively low representation in tech. LGBTQ+ workers represent just 11% of Glassdoor reviews in the tech industry, compared to 23.1% in restaurants, 19% in personal consumer services and 18.3% in nonprofits.
In general, LGBTQ+ ratings lag behind others, according to Jacob Little, Glassdoor’s head of People Experience and Diversity & Inclusion. “Many companies still have progress to make when it comes to improving the workplace experiences of their LGBTQ+ employees,” Little says in the report.
Glassdoor found that LGBTQ+ employees ranked their employers 6% worse than their straight, cisgender counterparts, with an average rating of 3.62 out of five (versus 3.85 out of five for straight, cisgender employees). LGBTQ+ employees were 128% more likely to mention discrimination and 51% more likely to write about burnout in their Glassdoor reviews.
IBM was more popular with LGBTQ+ employees (four out of five) than with straight, cisgender employees (3.89 out of five); Google got similar ratings from LGBTQ+ employees (4.38 out of five) and straight, cisgender employees (4.41 out of five). And although they were ranked among the top companies, LGBTQ+ employees at Apple and Microsoft gave their companies lower ratings than straight, cisgender employees did.