We’re delighted that on 10th November Alun Francis, who many of you have known as our Deputy and then Interim Chair, was confirmed as Chair of the Social Mobility Commission.
Under Alun’s leadership, we look forward to refining our business plan and strategy for the coming years, and sharing our recommendations for creating a country where the circumstances of someone’s birth do not determine their outcomes in life.
We’re always interested to hear what you’ve been up to as well – if you have an employer social mobility story to share, or you’re looking for a member of the Commission to speak at your event, you can always get in touch with us. We’d love to hear from you!
Thanks for reading,
The SMC Employers Team
Upcoming events:
We’re currently reviewing our programme of events, so we can bring you the most exciting and engaging events possible. Keep an eye on this newsletter and our website for updates on our progress and you’ll be the first to know when our next events are available to book.
In the meantime, why not check out the recaps of some of our recent events:
- Data – Addressing the challenges and understanding the opportunities
- 2023 State of the Nation report – People and Places
- Let’s Talk About Class
Hear more from the SMC:
We must all help eradicate the class pay gap
Wednesday 22nd November was the UK’s Equal Pay Day, the date when, based on average earnings, women start working for free until the end of the year.
Across all socio-economic backgrounds, women outperform men when it comes to educational attainment, and are more likely to attend university. However, once men and women enter the workplace, this reverses.
Women earn less than their male counterparts, are less likely to be in higher professional jobs, and are more likely to be economically inactive.
Read our Deputy Chair, Resham Kotecha’s, full article in HR magazine.
‘It’s Child’s Play’
Have you heard about our ‘It’s Child’s Play’ campaign? ‘It’s Child’s Play’ provides practical resources and easy ways of engaging with children to help get them school ready, and make sure that children from all backgrounds can have the best start to school.
Rise Impact Event
On 8th November our Commissioner Ryan Henson joined a group of employers, hosted by ICAEW, to celebrate the impact of the Rise Initiative. RISE aims to equip young people from low socio-economic backgrounds with the skills they need to succeed in life and work. Outreach programmes such as this are a vital way in which employers can help close the skills gap between the most and least advantaged.
Find out more about Rise, or read our employer blog on how employers can engage with schools and colleges through outreach.
In case you missed it:
- New research from the UK Social Mobility Awards and Making The Leap brought together insights from the organisations who entered this year’s Social Mobility Awards. ‘Reaching potential? Advancing social mobility in 2022-23’ explores best practice in effective social mobility work.
- Early November saw the Social Mobility Foundation publish their Social Mobility Employer Index, celebrating those who are taking action to make their organisation more accessible and inclusive to individuals from low socio-economic backgrounds. The accompanying report details the data and insights gained from analysing Index entries, and features best practice and practical steps that any employer can take to improve social mobility. To take those first steps, take a look at our toolkit: The building blocks: an employer’s guide to improving social mobility in the workplace.
- Earlier this month, The Careers & Enterprise Company’s launched their new Employer Standards framework and tool to improve employer outreach across sectors. These new Employer Standards will help businesses understand what good careers education outreach looks like so they can inspire young people, help them to be career ready and collaborate with others for success.