Some 68% of people in the UK say their background affects how far they can go in their career – suggesting social mobility in the UK is stalling rather than improving.
According to new research for Co-op, more than half (52%) also think businesses should treat social mobility as part of their wider diversity and inclusion commitments.
The findings highlight how many people believe bias in recruitment and a lack of professional networks continue to limit opportunity across the UK.
To help tackle this, Co-op has launched two free toolkits to make opportunities fairer for employers and jobseekers, offering practical steps to remove barriers linked to socioeconomic background.
The Social Mobility Employer Toolkit provides guidance for organisations to measure, understand and improve social mobility across their workforce.
Alongside it, the Employability Toolkit offers a free resource to help people who face barriers to work – such as young people, returners, refugees and those with convictions – to build confidence and develop job-ready skills.
Co-op engaged young members in shaping the resource, with input from the Co-op Young Members Group helping to test and refine the content.
Research Findings:
- 68% say background such as accent, family income or school affects career opportunities
- Only 32% feel confident that employers genuinely care about social mobility
- 52% think businesses should treat social mobility as part of their wider DEI commitments
- People believe the biggest barriers to progress for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are the cost of higher education (31%), bias in recruitment (28%) and lack of confidence or professional networks (25%).
Claire Costello, Chief People and Inclusion Officer at Co-op, said: “This research shows that background still plays too big a role in determining career success. Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. Every business can take steps to change that.
“Our new Employer Toolkit makes it easier for organisations to understand the socioeconomic gap in their workforce and take practical action to close it. At Co-op, access to opportunity is a core part of our Social Value Strategy, and we are showing that inclusion and productivity go hand in hand.”
Co-op said stronger government action is needed to make social mobility measurable – including requiring large employers to publish data on colleagues’ socioeconomic background to track progress across every sector.
The company is calling on Government to explore how to incentivise and support employers to measure and publish data on the socioeconomic background of their workforce.
Employers and jobseekers can access the toolkits at www.coop.co.uk/social-mobility.
In the games industry, IntoGames is dedicated to helping working class and low-income talent find opportunities in the sector. Learn more about their work here – https://intogames.org
And you can read more about Social Mobility in the workplace here on Empower Up.
Register or log in to get started in your organisation
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
