Fridae

The Singapore office of Arup, a UK-headquartered multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm, will hold its inaugural LGBT diversity meeting on August 1 as part of the company's effort to support its LGBT staff members and promote inclusion in the workplace. The event is open to employees of other companies in the built environment industry, including engineers and architects, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The session will feature guest speakers from Pink Dot Sg, Alan Seah and Paerin Choa; and explore the barriers facing individuals in the workplace and explain how taking steps to promote an inclusive working environment can benefit everyone. 

A spokesman from Arup Singapore told Fridae that the company hopes the event will help shape the focus of the diversity committee's activities within the engineering and construction services industry in the future. He added that the company is in contact with other private sector firms in Singapore who share a similar vision and hopes to collaborate with them.

A local diversity committee handles all aspects of diversity and inclusion within Singapore's office. For LGBT matters, the committee works closely with ConnectOut, the company's LGBT employee resource group, to promote inclusion in the workplace. The network was established in Arup's UK, Middle East and Africa regions in 2012 and has 60 members on its mailing list.

Established in 1968, the Singapore office employs over 200 staff, and has contributed to iconic landmarks including ION Orchard, Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore Flyer. The company employs over 10,000 staff based in 92 offices across 42 countries in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Arup was the first and is the only engineering consultancy to be listed on the 2012 Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, an annual benchmarking exercise conducted by the LGBT rights charity Stonewall to determine the UK's top employers for LGBT staff.

The event is open to anyone currently working in the built environment, including engineers and architects, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Interested participants should register in advance via email to SINDiversityCommittee@arup.com. The event will run from 6-9pm on August 1, Thursday at Arup, 10 Hoe Chiang Road #26-01 Keppel Towers.