Unemployment

When I was laid-off I chose to take early retirement for two reasons. The first reason was my age, I knew that I could never get a comparable job because of my age and also because I was a supervisor. I knew my engineering skills were rusty and someone fresh out of college had an edge over me. The second reason was I knew that as a trans-woman my chances of a job were slim to none. In the support groups I had heard many tales of highly skilled trans-people not being able to get a job. One person had a post-PhD and couldn’t get a job. I also know that “passing” does have it privilege, that the better that you are not identified as trans the better your odds of getting a job.

I read the national surveys that said that unemployment in the trans-community was higher than four or five times the national average.

There was an article on CNN on Friday that was about unemployment in the community and it had no surprises.

Transgender job seekers face uphill battle
CNN Money
By Blake Ellis
February 22, 2013

Rebecca Juro, 50, has been unemployed for the last four years and she can't help but think it's because she's transgender.

She has applied for almost 100 jobs and has gone on close to 20 interviews, but there have been no offers. No one says they aren't hiring her because she's transgender. But some employers tell her the job has been filled even though she continues to see postings for it online. Others have "laughed in my face."
[…]
Jennifer Chavez, 55, has 40 years of experience in the auto industry but said she was terminated from her job as a mechanic just two months after telling her boss she planned to transition from male to female. Upon finding out about her transition, she said co-workers stopped talking to her and her boss even told her an applicant had turned down a job because of her. Soon, word about her transition spread.

In another story on CNN Money they report on six other trans-woman problems in getting a job…

I was working at a spa while I finished transitioning, and my boss insisted I couldn't present myself as female at work -- and even bought me men's polo shirts to wear as soon as I bought women's shirts.

It created such a hostile work environment that I left in mid-December and I've been looking for work since.

I've applied for 213 jobs. A coffee equipment company offered me a job a couple days ago and I just needed to meet with the technician to get trained. But after I discussed the name change with the employer on the phone, I got a call saying 'we changed our mind,' and they gave me some excuse. 

Unfortunately, I have heard many stories like Rebecca, Jennifer and Diana’s stories. As a result I know of a number of trans-people who live together because that is all they can afford or they live with relatives or they live in homeless shelters.

The first article goes on to say,

But a federal law protecting transgender workers remains crucial to getting to the root of the unemployment problem, advocacy groups say. And there's growing optimism it could happen, with state anti-discrimination laws that specifically protect transgender employees now covering 45% of the population -- up from 5% about 10 years ago.

Even so, it's often hard to prove a discrimination case.

That is so true. Businesses have learned how to dance around discrimination law suits. They will not say they are not hiring you because of your age, but you are “over qualified.” If you are a woman they know not to mention sex as the reason that you didn’t get the promotion. The same is true for trans-jobseekers, they will say the position has been filled like they did with Rebecca.

However, I still think the Connecticut’s anti-discrimination laws help. It keep the honest companies honest and it makes other companies think twice before they discriminate.