IBM Korea gives extra points to gays in recruiting

"Extra points will be granted to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders in document screening."

This is part of IBM Korea`s announcement to recruit new staff posted on a job portal site. It suggests that the company will give extra points to people with alternative sexual orientations in the recruitment process.

Many companies have announced that they will not discriminate against gays, but businesses rarely promise to give bonus points when recruiting such people.

IBM Korea is also the first affiliate to adopt the policy at IBM. Neither IBM headquarters in the U.S. nor its affiliates in other countries give bonus points to gays. Coming out in society is not considered as burdensome abroad as it is in Korea, but the Korean affiliate says it chose to give extra points because it takes courage to come out of the closet.

The company has not inserted a section in its application form that asks about sexual orientation. It said, however, that extra points will be awarded when candidates unveil their sexual identity by email when applying.

On the reason for introducing the measure, the company said, "The more diverse members of an organization get, the more productive they become," adding, "It is IBM`s recruitment philosophy to always value diversity when hiring staff, apart from members of sexual minorities."

Another reason is more practical. If a member of a sexual minority spends more time trying to hide his or her orientation, the less productive he or she is. The company said, "A global study by IBM found that the more open staff are about their sexual orientation, the more focused they become."

On yet another reason for the decision, an IBM Korea source said, "We also took into consideration statistics suggesting that creative and capable people are more common among sexual minorities."

sanhkim@donga.com