Discussion

Many of the barriers that trans people face in and around the world of work are rooted in restrictive norms that define how men and women are expected to behave, as well as cisgender norms that perpetuate that idea that only two genders exist and that they are static. As this knowledge review has shown, these norms are reflected in recruitment processes, working environments and career development opportunities. Breaking these gender norms often results in some form of punishment from society, whether it is being removed from a recruitment process, being discriminated against or mistreated by colleagues and clients, or being treated unprofessionally by a manager. The consequences of living as a trans person in a society where many people are ignorant, prejudiced or, in the worst case, hostile towards trans people can negatively affect working life, as well as life outside work, in a variety of ways.

The purpose of this knowledge review is to provide a clear summary of knowledge about the working life conditions of trans people in the Nordic countries and the underlying factors that affect their employment. In summary, the Nordic knowledge provides a picture of working life conditions that are worse than those of cisgender people in a number of ways. The conditions described show that various types of exclusionary processes, such as discrimination and negative, transphobic environments, are common obstacles to a secure and fulfilling working life. This applies both to the search for a job and to the working environment in a workplace. These barriers can have serious consequences for trans people’s finances, quality of life and health.

All the Nordic reports that examine LGBTI people’s exposure to discrimination, harassment and threats show that trans people are by far the most vulnerable group. Discrimination, derogatory comments, and a negative workplace environment can affect well-being and the opportunities to thrive and develop in one’s working life – as well as the opportunities to have a working life at all.

Recurring in the material, as well as in the dialogues with civil society organisations, are statements about stress, lack of energy and feelings of exhaustion and fatigue as a result of navigating working life when there is little knowledge about trans people. This can result from being in a workplace in which it is necessary to constantly inform colleagues who ask questions or, for example, use the wrong pronouns, resulting in the need to act as an educator alongside performing work duties. It may also involve devoting energy to thinking about which kinds of jobs are safe and which are not, for example avoiding occupations or positions that require significant contact with people or in which the person believes they will be discriminated against to a great extent. It may also involve spending much time and energy thinking about whether or not to come out in the workplace. For those who have precarious employment and therefore need to change jobs frequently, it becomes a recurring issue that takes up time and energy.

It is important to emphasise that this is not just something that occurs at the individual level but is very much an aspect of workplace culture. In several instances in the study material, generally negative attitudes towards trans and other LGBTI people are addressed and how these are expressed through a workplace culture characterised by microaggressions, negative comments and jokes about trans people in general, not necessarily directed at an individual. Trans people in the study material referenced the negative impact of such workplace cultures on their overall well-being and job satisfaction, as well as their ability to concentrate at work. Those who were not open in the workplace also found it difficult to challenge disrespectful behaviour and homophobic and transphobic comments, for fear of being ‘outed’. International research shows similar consequences of discrimination, negative attitudes and microaggressions, including emotional exhaustion, lower work engagement and stress, as well as an unwillingness amongst trans people to be open about their gender identity for fear of it negatively affecting their career or a greater tendency to downplay aspects of their gender identity in environments where there is a risk of discrimination (Eriksson et al., 2022).

In the material as well as in the dialogues with civil society organisations, issues of health and ill-health recur in different ways. Fatigue and lack of energy, as a con­sequence of encountering microaggressions, discrimination and ignorance, is one example. Isolation from the labour market due to fear of discrimination or poor treatment is another. A further example is the conditions that accompany a physical transition. It was highlighted in conversations with civil society organisa­tions that a physical transition often affects a person’s ability to work, as well as their mental and physical capacity – something that can lead to discrimination in itself. As in several places in the material, isolation, from both the labour market and the outside world, was also highlighted, especially while waiting to undergo the transition process. Having to be away from work for a significant amount of time is one example and commonly a significant burden in waiting that often lasts a long time, which is also addressed in previous research (Bremer, 2011). It is clear that the conditions of working life are closely linked to the conditions of life in general.

Little is known about the management and career development of trans people in the Nordic countries. In the few qualitative studies that exist, several trans men describe passing as a man as being career enhancing. Some men described it as giving them greater status and better pay than when they did not pass as a man and stated that they were generally treated with more respect in society (Eriksson et al., 2022). This can be contrasted with the experience of Claire, a trans woman and manager. After her transition, she felt that she was interrupted more often and was less likely to be listened to, while co-workers confided in her in a way they had not done before her transition. These examples clearly show the impact of how gendered power structures and heterosexist patriarchal practices that favour men and are to the detriment of women permeate the wider world of work.

Otherwise, there is a significant lack of Nordic knowledge about career development and especially management. We therefore cannot say anything for certain about this area, but it is possible to interpret this lack of knowledge against other results in the knowledge review. Findings indicating that many trans people have precarious employment and hold jobs below their educational level could indicate that only a relatively small group undergo career development leading to a managerial position. The findings on high levels of discrimination against trans people in the workplace, as well as experiences of stress and burnout due to discrimination and negative environments, suggest the same. It is unusual for employees who are marginalised or unhappy in their workplace to be promoted to or aspire to positions that confer the responsibility, trust, and power to make decisions affecting others in a workplace, such as managerial positions. The findings that trans people experienced career and pay discrimination (Björk & Wahlström, 2018) and were discriminated against in their workplace after coming out, and for example transferred to other tasks, forced to leave their job or not promoted (Anderssen et al., 2021), point in the same direction. This is not something we can know for sure, as knowledge directly examining management and career development is largely lacking, but until more research is done, the findings of this knowledge review seem to point to such a conclusion.

It is important to emphasise that there are differences and variations within the trans group. The results of several of the reports show that the specific gender identity of an individual within the trans community affects their experiences in working life, as we see in the examples above. Trans women are more likely to experience harassment and discrimination than trans men, both in the workplace and in recruitment processes. Trans women are also more likely to be unemployed than trans men and non-binary trans people, and more trans feminine than trans masculine young people are pessimistic about finding a good job (Lehtonen, 2016). The particular vulnerability of trans women is also reflected in the reasoning of previous studies, such as Eriksson and colleagues’ qualitative study on trans people’s work environments in the Swedish context. The authors emphasise that individual gender identity interacts with the prevalence of discrimination against people with a trans experience, with their findings indicating that trans men/men experience slightly less exposure to discrimination than trans women/women and non-binary people (Eriksson et al., 2022: 170). This is also in line with European findings from the extensive data produced by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), which also shows that trans women are the group that is most at risk of violence and harassment (Calderon-Cifuentes, 2021). Transphobia and misogyny, conscious or unconscious, interact and hit trans women particularly hard. In proposing measures to reduce the vulnerability of trans people in the workplace, it is therefore important to consider variations within the trans community and not analyse the community as more uniform than it is.

At the same time, there is much about the differences within the trans community that we currently know nothing about. There are many subgroups and intersections on which there is an absence of information in a Nordic context. Intersectional perspectives are lacking in the included material to a significant extent, which can be partly explained by the fact that it largely consists of survey studies based on large sets of quantitative data, which rarely include intersectional analyses. In the conversations with civil society organisations, as well as in parts of the written material, the issue of double vulnerability is raised, for example a non-white trans person constantly having to deal with heterosexism and racism, as well as the experience of being discriminated against, without being able to determine the basis of the discrimination. This was also raised in the discussions with the trade union confederations, several of which referenced the problem that discrimination laws are not applicable on multiple grounds. In order to know more about differences within the trans community and, based on this knowledge, develop policy measures to improve the working life conditions of these communities, research with intersectional perspectives and additional data are needed.

However, one factor for which there is more information is how age interacts with having a trans experience. Young trans people are often particularly vulnerable, and there are many indications that many trans people get a bad start in working life. One striking similarity between the Nordic survey studies is that a majority of the trans respondents are young. This differs from respondents within the LGB community, who are more evenly distributed across different age groups. We also know that there has been an increase in people receiving a gender dysphoria diagnosis within the population. This increase is especially apparent for children and young people (National Board of Health and Welfare, 2020). Based on previous research, we know that young people are particularly vulnerable to health problems when they are unemployed or working in precarious conditions (Vancea & Utzet, 2017). Previous research also shows that young trans people report poorer mental and physical health than young cisgender people (see, for example, Siverskog, 2021). It is therefore particularly important to give special consideration to young trans people, which is a relatively large and growing group, and their relationship to the labour market.

Unemployment and early exclusion from education and the labour market risk affecting health and well-being at the individual level but also ultimately constitute an economic burden at the societal level. There are thus major benefits in both the short and long term if young people complete basic and further education and are integrated into the labour market (Randell, 2023). However, mental ill-health can also be an effect of organisational and structural conditions in schools and workplaces, which are also often contexts in which narrow and exclusionary gender norms are maintained.

It is beyond the scope of this knowledge review to include issues relating to young trans people and education, but there is nevertheless a strong link between education and working life. Young trans people need to be assured a good start in the labour market, and a high standard and quality of education is an important part of that start. Conditions in both school and working life can lead to stress and mental health problems. A higher proportion of young trans people state that they are not satisfied with their school or work situation and have difficulties at school, as well as reporting higher levels of perceived loneliness, lack of community and feelings of exclusion and isolation compared to cisgender people (Anderssen et al., 2020). Difficulties in school affect both the transition to working life and the type of jobs that are accessible (Randell, 2023).

Precarious employment is also linked to negative mental health outcomes, and young workers with precarious employment are at increased risk of mental health problems and poorer mental health compared to those with more stable employ­ment. Active labour market and training programmes, including social security measures, improved working conditions and targeted health programmes are im­por­tant to address this vulnerability (Vancea & Utzet, 2017). It appears that exten­sive work is needed in both schools and workplaces to create favourable conditions to ensure a good start in working life – and the rest of life – for young trans people.

In addition to this, it is important to ensure that there are measures that work for those trans people who transition later in life. We know, for example, that there is an increase in the number of trans people who choose to transition at an older age, only after retirement, because they see it as too risky to come out and undergo a transition while still in working life (Siverskog & Bromseth, 2023). Needs and measures from the employer side may also differ depending on whether an employee has already undergone transition before their first job or they do so after several decades of working life, and it is important to consider a life cycle perspective when developing measures.

With the exception of one report, which examined the situation of young HBTQI people (MUCF, 2022), economic vulnerability is not explicitly addressed in the included material. However, we do learn about trans people’s overrepresentation in terms of unemployment; exposure to discrimination, including in recruitment; illness that affects ability to work; and poor employment conditions, such as insecure employment and low wages. Based on these findings, this knowledge review suggests that trans people are more likely to struggle to make a living and to be at risk of or living in poverty and economic vulnerability than the majority population.

Based on European data, analyses of the economic vulnerability of trans people have been carried out by Trans Europe, an umbrella organisation that brings together organisations from across Europe working for trans rights (see, for example, Calderon-Cifuentes, 2021; Karsay, 2021). Data from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) shows that across the EU, 46% of trans respondents struggled to make ends meet. One in four trans people in the EU have experienced some form of homelessness and 11% of young trans people aged 15-17 have experienced homelessness (FRA, 2019). This is significantly higher than in the LGB community. Forms of homelessness include sleeping rough, staying with a friend or relative or in a shelter. More than half, 59%, of trans people with a migrant and/or ethnic minority background in the EU have experienced some form of homelessness. Trans people who are parents are also more likely to experience homelessness. Non-binary respondents appear to fare slightly better financially than trans women and trans men. Trans people with disabilities, trans people with migrant and/or ethnic minority backgrounds, non-heterosexual trans people and intersex trans people have more difficulty coping financially than other groups. Those who are most affected are trans people with low levels of education and disabilities, regardless of gender (Calderon-Cifuentes, 2021). The author attributes the difficult economic situation that trans people often face to the fact that many have been discriminated against from an early age, including in the education system, and often have not had support from home. Subsequently, many are unable to access the labour market and instead have to turn to informal economies, such as sex for compensation, to survive financially. That also leaves many trans people, especially trans women, exposed to serious forms of violence and harassment (Calderon-Cifuentes, 2021).

Based on FRA’s survey data (EU LGBTI Survey II, 2019), it is possible to isolate data from the three Nordic countries that are EU members. The survey is the largest of its kind but, just as for the included Nordic studies, it is important to bear in mind that the sampled groups are relatively small when isolating only trans people. When it comes to difficulties coping financially, the patterns are similar to those seen across the EU on average, but the percentage is slightly lower, with about 40% of trans respondents in the three respective countries stating that they have difficulties coping financially. In terms of homelessness, Denmark and Finland are close to the EU average, with about 25% of respondents having experienced some form of homelessness. Sweden stands out as the EU country with the highest percentage of homelessness among trans people, with 35% of trans respondents having experienced homelessness in some form. The most common reasons for homelessness are family or relationship problems, insufficient financial resources and/or unemployment (FRA, 2019). These figures differ markedly from the LGB community, and even more from the majority population. In 2024, FRA will publish a follow-up to the EU LGBTI Survey II from 2019. There is every reason to specifically monitor and produce data on the conditions and vulnerability that trans people experience in the Nordic countries.

In the Nordic material included in this knowledge review, themes such as economic vulnerability, poverty and other consequences of poor working life conditions are conspicuously absent. This may be because the included material explicitly relates to working life and mainly examines themes that are clearly linked to working life, such as pay and working environment, or attempts to access work, such as recruitment. Questions related to the consequences of poor structural conditions and a fragmented and insecure working life for life in general are not included. The Nordic approach that emerges from this overview thus differs from that represented by the European statistics and analysis above. The latter shows that we learn about other aspects of vulnerability when questions are asked on the basis that working life conditions and living conditions are always closely linked. This shows us that there are other questions to ask and other ways of asking them. In the Nordic material, for example, questions about working life conditions and finances are not linked to consequences in areas such as health, housing, and other conditions for living a safe and decent life. A recurring theme in the material is that more knowledge is needed about the working life conditions of trans people. Where we direct the searchlight and how we choose to formulate problems will guide the knowledge we gain. These perspectives are clear examples of areas where more Nordic knowledge is needed to improve working life conditions, closely linked to living conditions, for trans people in the Nordic region.