Two gay twin brothers want to promote inclusion in the workplace for LGBT communities with their new LinkedIn-style networking site.
London-based twins Adrien and Pierre Gaubert founded myGwork after both experiencing homophobic behaviour in their previous places of work.
They want to help LGBT professionals find their dream job, by creating a platform for networking, job searching and sharing experiences.
myGwork aims to achieve this by listing jobs in organisations which have an ethos that is supportive of LGBT communities, and a corporate culture of diversity and inclusion.
Members can register for free to upload a profile and CV, search for jobs, ask for advice from other members and browse a list of networking and social events.
For businesses looking to list their jobs on the site, there is a small fee.
myGwork have already signed up organisations including the BBC, American Express, Apple, British Gas, Sony and L’Oreal.
The myGwork blog also collects LGBT-related news articles for members, so they can keep up to date with the latest issues affecting LGBT professionals in the workplace.
Pierre said: “We hope myGwork will help remove the fear of coming out at work, which is beneficial to both the businesses and employees when they feel more confident about being themselves in the workplace. In turn we know that his leads to improved morale, productivity and staff retention — factors that benefit everyone in the working environment.”
myGwork profiles do not appear in search engines like Google, and only those registered will be able to see other members.
The site was built by the brothers with the help of friends Nerea and Unai in April 2014, following the death of Adrien and Pierre’s mother.
Adrien said: “My mum was always worried we could not get a good job because we were gay. myGwork was created to address this issue, and make sure we are all given an equal chance to succeed in the workplace.”
Although the site has only been live in the UK for a few months, the brothers said they have received global interest from members, businesses and organisations looking to register, with the number of users growing by 100% a day.
myGwork is being advised by Virgin Startup entrepreneur of the year nominee Raphael Dos Santos, Vice Chair of a:gender Jacqui Gavin, and the founder of The Gay Business Association, Jean Francois Dor.
A report from OutNow estimates that UK businesses could save £661m a year from encouraging LGBT employees to be themselves, and making people feel comfortable about coming out to their colleagues.
In addition to this, 46% of people in the UK said they had encountered homophobia in the workplace last year.
Find out more about myGwork here, and follow the company on Facebook and Twitter.