The Hidden Cost of Discrimination in Bulgaria

Did you know that discrimination against LGBTI+ individuals costs the Bulgarian economy between €2.4 and €4.9 billion every year? That’s nearly 5% of the country’s GDP. These are not just abstract numbers, they represent missed opportunities for economic growth, lost innovation, and reduced investment.

As the moderator of the panel "Beyond Buzzwords: Measuring the True ROI of Inclusion" at the Sofia Pride Business Forum 2025, I saw firsthand how powerful the case for workplace inclusion truly is. At nPloy, we’re not just talking about diversity, we’re building bias-free recruitment solutions to make inclusive hiring the standard. 

But many business leaders still ask: What is DEI hiring, and what’s the ROI?

Thanks to a compelling new report on “The Economic Cost of Homophobia in Bulgaria” from the Institute for Market Economics (IME), we finally have the data to prove that discrimination isn’t just unjust - it’s economically irrational.

How Discrimination at Work Affects the Economy

The IME’s 2024 report highlights four core ways discrimination damages Bulgaria’s economy:

1. Lower Productivity: LGBTI+ employees who face discrimination are up to 20% less productive. Eliminating this could raise annual added value per worker from €21.3K to €22.2K.
   
   
2. Employment Gaps: Hiring discrimination excludes 17% of LGBTI+ Bulgarians. Solving this could add between 28,000 and 57,000 new workers to the economy.
   
   
3. Reduced Innovation: Economies that are inclusive also rank higher in innovation. Bulgaria lags in both.
   
   
4. Lost Investment: A 9-15% increase in foreign direct investment is possible if societal acceptance of LGBTI+ people improves. That’s €2.5-€4.3 billion in potential growth.

These aren’t just abstract figures, they represent real growth Bulgaria is missing out on due to systemic workplace exclusion.

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What Is DEI Hiring? (And What Isn’t)

A "DEI hire" refers to recruiting and retaining talent through inclusive, equitable, and unbiased practices. Contrary to common belief, it is not about fulfilling quotas or lowering standards. It is about:

• Expanding your talent pipeline to include underrepresented candidates 
• Evaluating people by skills and potential, not stereotypes
• Building a culture of belonging that improves employee engagement, retention and performance

DEI hiring drives real results

• Diverse leadership teams generate 19% more innovation revenue
• Inclusive decision-making improves team performance 87% of the time
• 76% of job seekers say they consider company diversity before applying

So, what does this look like in practice?

What We Learned at Sofia Pride Business Forum 2025

This year’s forum brought together EU leaders, DEI advocates, and business innovators:

• Marc Angel (European Parliament) emphasized the EU’s commitment to LGBTIQ+ protections.
• Simon Reeves (EBRD) shared frameworks for integrating DEI into multinational teams.
• Katrien Meire (Worknomads) addressed belonging in remote-first companies.
• Catherine Vaughan (EY) shared the impact of the Unity network in transforming internal culture.
• Velislava Popova (Dnevnik) emphasized the use of words and inclusive storytelling in society.
• Jovan Džoli Ulićević, activist and scholar, delivered a powerful call for trans-inclusive workspaces.

From our panel discussion, the most effective DEI strategies included:

• Embedding DEI in performance metrics, not just hiring numbers
• Using analytics to review data on hiring and detect bias in compensation, attrition, and promotion
• Empowering employee resource groups (a.k.a. ERGs) and internal DEI leaders
• Practicing anonymous hiring, a standard at nPloy - we remove age, name, and gender from initial applications to focus only on what matters: skills and motivation.

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A Practical Guide to Inclusive Hiring

Whether you’re just starting or scaling your DEI journey, here’s a quick checklist:

1. Audit your hiring funnel - Identify where bias may occur
2. Update internal policies - Align with global inclusion standards
3. Set measurable goals - Diversity in hires, time-to-hire, time-to-promotion, pay equity and attrition rates.
4. Redesign job ads and interviews - Use inclusive language and structured interviews, and fair evaluations.
5. Train hiring managers – Build awareness, accountability, and skills. Teach inclusive language, eliminate biased scoring, and build DEI accountability into performance reviews.

How to Measure the ROI of DEI Hiring

Here are the key metrics we recommend tracking:

Quantitative:

• % of underrepresented hires in each team
• Retention and attrition rates across demographics
• Time to hire and promotion timelines by group
• Pay gap and compensation parity analysis

Qualitative:

• Belonging and engagement scores (e.g. eNPS)
• Bias detection in feedback and surveys
• Innovation metrics from diverse teams
• Feedback from exit interviews

Why It Matters: DEI Is a Business Imperative

According to IME, most Bulgarian companies have no formal DEI policies. Only about 30% of the top 100 employers have inclusion strategies, and just 9% actively support LGBTI+ rights.

This is a missed opportunity. Inclusive hiring isn’t a trend, it’s a competitive edge. And the sooner companies recognize that, the better.

That means there’s a huge opportunity. Your company can lead by:

• Adopting inclusive hiring strategies
• Championing visible policies
• Partnering with platforms like nPloy that make equity measurable and actionable

What We’re Doing at nPloy

We’re not waiting. We’re leading. Our product and philosophy are built to empower better hiring for everyone. Here’s how:

• Bias-Free Matching: Candidates are evaluated first on skill, not CV structure or identity background.
• Anonymous Applications: We remove name, gender, and age from the early stages of the recruitment sourcing process.
• Inclusive Job Tools: Language checks and diversity-focused job ad creation.

Want to build a hiring strategy that reflects your values and drives ROI? Let’s connect.

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