Yorkshire supermarket group named as Top 10 employer for social mobility
Yorkshire supermarket group Morrisons has featured in the Top 10 of a national list of employers taking the most action to improve social mobility in the workplace.
The survey, what is believed to be the world’s first ever social mobility employer index, is a joint initiative between the Social Mobility Foundation and the Social Mobility Commission, in partnership with the City of London Corporation.
It ranks Britain’s employers for the first time on the actions they are taking to ensure they are open to accessing and progressing talent from all backgrounds.
The aim of the index is to encourage firms to share their initiatives and progress in becoming more inclusive employers and to reveal which sectors and companies are taking the issue of social mobility most seriously.
The top 10 firms named in the index top 50 are:
Grant Thornton
KPMG
Skanska UK
Standard Life
Deloitte
JP Morgan
PwC
Berwin Leighton Paisner
WM Morrisons Supermarkets
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Research carried out shows that people from more affluent backgrounds take a disproportionate number of the best jobs and that employers tend to disproportionately employ graduates who went to private schools and elite universities.
Nearly 100 employers from 17 sectors, who collectively employ just under one million people, submitted entries about their practices and procedures in areas such as work with young people, recruitment, selection and progression.
David Johnston, chief executive of the Social Mobility Foundation, said: “All the top 50 firms in the Social Mobility Employer Index should be applauded for the progress they are making towards ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to get in and get on – regardless of their background.
“While no one firm has cracked the issue and there is still progress to be made, they should be congratulated both for having prioritised social mobility and for being prepared to have their processes and practices independently scrutinised.”
