CHALLENGES AND INCLUSION OF TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY AT WORKPLACE

The transgender community is marginalized and humiliated in every sphere of life. However, after the ‘Transgender Protection Act', passed in 2018, transgender people have gained immense support from the civil societies of Pakistan. Many of the transgender people are participating in the mainstream workforce of the country. This paper takes a phenomenological approach to exemplify those organizations that has employed the transgender individuals. The paper will explore the issues and challenges encountered in the inclusion of transgender employees and their perceptions regarding the role of management in the unique gender identity and workforce diversity. Four indepth interviews were conducted and codes were generated by thematic analysis. The major findings are that although the respondents have families and communities that support them to work outside their stigmatized gender roles, however, there are lack of job opportunities and social restrictions in getting NIC in gender X category. However, the organizations where they work have minority inclusion and acceptance of gender identity as their top priority. The paper concludes with implications of the findings and recommendations for future research.