Co-op has launched two free social mobility toolkits for organisations and jobseekers, after new research it commissioned found that two-thirds (68%) of Brits say their socioeconomic background – such as accent, family income or school – still affects how far they can go in their career.
The research, conducted by Opinion Matters for the Co-op with a sample of 2,010 nationally representative UK citizens, also found that more than half (52%) think businesses should include social mobility as part of their wider diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) commitments. And only 32% feel confident that employers genuinely care about social mobility.
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 the 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.
The toolkits are freely available via Co-op’s website and will be shared with partner organisations, including through Co-op’s Levy Share and to Co-op Members, to reach people across the UK. A dedicated version is also being rolled out across the Co-op Academies Trust to support students in disadvantaged areas.
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.
“Our 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,” said Claire Costello, chief people and inclusion officer at Co-op.
“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.”
Earlier research by YouGov for Co-op found that while over a third of businesses have a defined social mobility strategy, fewer than one in five currently treat it as a top priority. A report by Demos in partnership with Co-op estimated that low social mobility costs the UK Economy £19bn a year in lost productivity.
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.
Co-op 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 coop.co.uk/social-mobility.
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