We hope you are having a great summer break. Don’t have anything on your summer reading list? – Why not take a look at the recaps from our previous employers’ masterclasses, we list some great topics below.
You still have the chance to register for our next event in September when we’ll be discussing our 2023 State of the Nation report and our accompanying policy vision and recommendations!
Thanks for reading,
The SMC Employers Team
Upcoming events:
2023 State of the Nation report: People and Places
Thursday 28th September 2023, 2-3pm
Join us at this online event where our Interim Chair, Alun Francis OBE, will be discussing our 2023 State of the Nation report: People and Places, charting the evolving social mobility landscape across the United Kingdom.
This event will give you an opportunity to find out more about:
- How our State of the Nation report extends and builds on the work we started in 2022 and contains important new elements – looking at full mobility outcomes, intermediate (early-life) outcomes, and drivers, with breakdowns by geography and personal characteristics.
- Our accompanying policy vision and recommendations
- Our new Data Explorer Tool – this new Tool will allow information on income, occupation and education to be broken down by regions, ethnicity, gender and disability.
- Finally, we will be revealing our Business Plan 2023/2024, setting out what the SMC hopes to achieve over the following year.
Find out more and register for 2023 State of the Nation report: People and Places
Playback of past events
Over the past couple of years we have provided a recap of all the key issues raised in our Employers’ Masterclasses, alongside a recording of all the sessions we have delivered – why not add some of these topics to your summer reading list?:
- Let’s talk about Class
- Accents in the Workplace
- The art of using storytelling to build inclusion
- Using Apprenticeships to improve social mobility and build skills for life
- Using workforce data to understand and improve social mobility
You’ll find the recaps and the recordings of all our past events here.
Hear more from the SMC:
Retail Toolkit
On 26 July we published our latest employer toolkit – for retail employers. The latest in a line of sector specific toolkits, this new toolkit provides retailers with resources and guidance on how to recruit, hire and develop a diverse workforce.
The unique features of the retail industry make the sector highly accessible to those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and give it the capacity to be a real engine of social mobility in the UK. Retail offers a wide range of entry-level jobs, which require no qualifications, and recruits within local communities, providing opportunities in social mobility coldspots.
Our thanks goes to those employers and industry groups from across the retail sector who have contributed or endorsed the toolkit, and we were delighted to be asked to present the toolkit to the British Retail Consortium’s members on publication day.
Our new website
Later this month, we’ll be moving our current website to a new space which will eventually house all of the SMC’s research and publications and advocacy projects. But don’t worry – you’ll be seamlessly redirected to the new site from any bookmarks you have saved to our great employer resources.
In case you missed it:
- There are many great charities and organisations that support employers in delivering their strategic aims for social mobility – visit our Organisational Directory to find one that can support you.If you support employers to achieve socio-economic inclusion and want to be included in our directory, you can register your organisation here.
- Compass launched a new career hub for people facing barriers to entry into the job market. Their Social Partner Hub will support candidates from a range of backgrounds including ex-offenders, care leavers, long term unemployed and people with disabilities. Working through a range of partner organisations, the platform will match candidates with job opportunities and internships available at Compass.If you want to remove barriers to entry into your workforce, check out the hiring section of our employer toolkits.