Investment bank JP Morgan is targeting gay graduates as part of its drive to win the war for young talent in the City.
It has held what it believes is the first recruitment event specifically for final-year gay and lesbian students.
Delegates had the opportunity to discuss workplace issues affecting gay and lesbian employees including their concerns about coming out at work. They could also quiz experts including JP Morgan employees, industry representatives and Angela Mason, executive director of gay rights lobby group Stonewall.
Recruitment managers talked about graduate opportunities within all areas of the bank and advised delegates on applications.
JP Morgan’s gay employee lobby Gleam – Gay and Lesbian Employees at JP Morgan – helped organise the recruitment event.
Alan Barr, a member of Gleam working in the bank’s financial division, said the aim was to advertise the work JP Morgan was doing on diversity and to reach as wide a range of graduate candidates as possible. "The bank is aware that in the past some students may have shied away from the City because of a belief that it wouldn’t be accepting of their personal lives," Barr said.
"The JP Morgan ethos is to hire the best people to do the job and allow them to focus on doing that job rather than worrying about what pronoun they used when talking about the weekend – should they use ‘he’ or ‘she’? JP Morgan believes people have the right to be themselves at work."
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