What parents like to preach during puberty also applies to the choice of employer. Anyone who prefers to surround themselves with open and tolerant people in their lives should be no less selective in their choice of employer. Why?!
We used to work to live. Today, our lives happily take place during working hours. No matter whether in the 24/7 madness or in the home office office mix - we will spend the main time of our lives with our colleagues, the boss and employees. So why should I sacrifice my life for an employer for whom appreciation is a foreign word. Why should I choose a working day in which I am only half-heartedly accepted or even tolerated because I am a foreigner, a woman, gay, lesbian or transsexual. Why should I waste my precious potential, my life time, on an employer who tolerates whispering about colleagues. Who, instead of living diversity, promotes misogyny and xenophobia by simply ignoring contemptuous comments about women, about foreign colleagues or the joke at the expense of a gay colleague in the office kitchen? In short, who doesn't care about me as a person and from whom I can't expect any appreciation? Recognition and respect are among the basic needs of people, so why not at work too?
Companies that are committed to an open corporate culture, i.e. are committed to women, gays, lesbians, bisexual or transsexual employees and have no problem saying so, look not only at an applicant's CV, but also at their personality . Many of the more than 7,000 listed companies are not yet able to bring the long-overdue open corporate culture to life in their own company DNA, but we are on a good path towards diversity.
For example, we regularly work with around 100 companies that are committed to diversity within the company. Another 200 or so companies are known to us as being LGBTI+ friendly. The diversity wave is moving, but there is still a lot to do. But employees don't have to wait, they simply have to take action themselves. STICKS & STONES is Europe's largest LGBT job and career fair. Over 100 companies, clubs and organizations come out at the trade fair as open and LGBTI-friendly employers who not only talk but also act in a diversity-oriented manner. They have over 2,000 job offers in their luggage throughout Germany and abroad. On June 2nd from 10 a.m., students and job seekers can exchange ideas about their experiences with discrimination on their career path and they can introduce themselves directly to employers for whom sexual identity is not a problem.
We are all interested in “open-minded” employers, so show up, network, find your future employer and, on top of that, enjoy the input from our speakers. Free tickets are available online.
The SXS day
Fair 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. | From start-ups to large corporations. 100 proud employers show what it means to live an LGBTI*-friendly working world in the Berlin Vollgutlager. These include Vodafone, Google, Axel Springer, SAP, Boston Consulting Group, Jung von Matt and thyssenkrupp.
Congress 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. | From “Diversity is dead” to “Coming out at a desk”. We will discuss our working world of tomorrow with you on four thematic stages.
So we are looking forward to Felicia Mutterer. The founder and editor-in-chief of “Straight” magazine discusses lesbian visibility in the workplace: “How do we create an open corporate climate by having lesbians come out?” Also to Andreas Klein's lecture: “Hello sex message - goodbye career | Impulses on sexting behavior in a professional context.” As part of his bachelor’s thesis, he conducted a study on the topic of “Sexting behavior of young people in Germany”. What options are there to take part in sexting and still not affect your own professional world and prevent possible career opportunities?
These are just two of many topics from the top-class SXS speakers. Soak up the topics, join in the discussion and shape your proud career. Enjoy our DJ spots during the day and celebrate our legendary party night at SchwuZ after STICKS & STONES. The STICKS & STONES Berlin Edition will take place on June 2nd at SchwuZ and Vollgutlager. Free tickets for visitors to the trade fair are available free of charge online in advance.
