Use of ‘m/f/x’ in vacancies explodes: ‘a bit of pinkwashing’

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The designation ‘m/f/x’ has gained ground in vacancy texts in recent years, according to figures that job site Indeed shared with BNR. The ‘x’ should make it clear that people who do not feel at home in one of the two sexes are also welcome to apply. Critics consider this addition unnecessary.

At the beginning of 2020, the designation ‘m/f/x’ appeared on average only above 3 out of 10,000 vacancies on Indeed.com. By the end of last year, this number had quadrupled. M/f/x now reigns over positions ranging from toy salesman to email marketer.

The Netherlands, Heerlen, 22 June.  2022 personnel wanted, Company Mondi is looking for operator M / V / X Mondi is an international packaging and paper production group.  Limburg location on business park in Heerlen South Limburg.  photo: ANP / Hollandse Hoogte / Peter Hilz
The Netherlands, Heerlen, 22 June. 2022 personnel wanted, Company Mondi is looking for operator M / V / X Mondi is an international packaging and paper production group. Limburg location on business park in Heerlen South Limburg. photo: ANP / Hollandse Hoogte / Peter Hilz (Peter Hiltz )

Although the designation ‘m/f/x’ still seems relatively marginal, the upward trend is striking. The designation ‘m/f’ has lost a lot of popularity in recent years. At the beginning of 2020, 1 in 20 advertisements explicitly asked for an ‘m/f’. That percentage has since halved.

Employers aim to make it clear with ‘m/f/x’ that non-binary people are welcome in the workplace. Yet this approach is controversial.

Randstad deleted m/f ‘years ago’

Employment agency Randstad has already deleted the abbreviations ‘years ago’, a spokesperson said. ‘Our vacancies are open to everyone, after all we don’t want to and shouldn’t exclude anyone. Then it is also irrelevant to mention m/f/x’, Randstad writes in response to questions from BNR. (Incidentally, the practice turns out to be unruly. Gender indications are still common on the website of the employment agency.)

Other experts are also critical of the rise of the letter combination. For example, Peter Boerman, editor-in-chief of recruiters’ platform Werf&, calls the increasing use of ‘m/f/x’ ‘a bit of pinkwashing’. ‘You put up a vacancy and just want the best people for it. Then I wouldn’t know why you should specify that someone must be an m, f or x,’ says the editor-in-chief.

According to Boerman, a gender designation can be useful with terms such as ‘carpenter’ or ‘secretary’, which explicitly or implicitly refer to a certain gender. ‘But there too an alternative such as ‘carpenters’ or ‘office manager’ is better,’ says Boerman.

‘M/f is completely outdated’

The use of ‘m/f/x’ also has strong proponents. For example, the Belgian government already made the abbreviation mandatory in its own vacancies in 2015. The Dutch government also often uses the abbreviation. On Werkenbijdeoverheid.nl, the letter combination ‘m/f/x’ appears in about 250 vacancies.

Remke Verdegem, chairman of the Transgender Network, also believes that the ‘x’ in vacancies should be explicitly stated. ‘M/f is completely outdated,’ says Verdegem. ‘It’s very binary and you exclude people who don’t feel at home with it.’

According to Verdegem, the position of transgender people in general and trans women in particular on the labor market is ‘very bad’. She refers to a study by the Social and Cultural Planning Office from 2022, which showed, among other things, that trans women more often than average receive benefits or are unemployed. ‘It’s not a lack of talent, but discrimination,’ says Verdegem.


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