HR Blog

Australian LGBTI Awards 2017

“This law is intended to combat discrimination and in other ways promote equal rights and opportunities regardless of sex, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation or age.”

That’s how the Swedish Discrimination Act begins. This law requires all workplaces in Sweden to work towards creating an inclusive work environment.

When I was a Human Resources Management student at the University of Gothenburg, as part of an assignment,  we wrote a gender equality plan for a company. Because well, the law requires you to have one. They thanked us very much for the plan and then put it to rest in a drawer somewhere. Which, unfortunately, I believe is not too uncommon in Sweden.

This is one of the reasons it’s especially gratifying for me to work at Spotify. Because although we still have some distance to go before we can call ourselves a fully inclusive workplace, I’ve never worked for a company that wants to do so much in this area. There is true passion among employees for making Spotify the most inclusive workplace not only in Sweden but in the world.

..at the end of the day, what really matters is that we work towards a more inclusive and diverse workplace!

As a bonus for the work put into this area, we got nominated for the Australian LGBTI Awards. This is a new award, created to showcase celebrate people and companies who push for a more inclusive society.

We were nominated in the “Organization/ Brand of the Year” category for our work with; #PressPlayforPride, our sponsorship of the Out for Undergraduate Tech Conference, and the fact that when you sign up for Spotify or apply for a job here, you don’t have to choose between only “male” or “female” gender.

Last week, the red carpet was rolled out outside Sydney’s most famous landmark, the Opera House. Spotify was represented by a large party of people who are in one way or another involved in our efforts to advance equality at Spotify.

When it was time for our category, we had great expectations but also great competition. And this year the award went to the broadcasting network SBS – congratulations! But as was pointed out several times during the night – to be nominated is a sign that you are on the right path. And at the end of the day, what really matters is that we work towards a more inclusive and diverse workplace!

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