"The figures from the Government’s race disparity audit have drawn attention to a wide range of inequalities that exist across our society. In terms of employment, it’s clear we still have a long way to go until we can say access to work and progression in UK workplaces is an equitable business. We hope these stark figures are a catalyst to put race equality firmly on the agenda for employers. There is clearly considerable work to do to ensure workplace cultures are inclusive and that progression is based on merit, not identity, background or circumstance. We’ve made significant progress on gender as a nation, and now we need to see the same pace of change for race.
"Employer-led action as well as sustained policy-maker support is required to address the injustices revealed about labour market participation – both for access to work and in-work progression. As a nation we’re often still reluctant to talk about race, but it's 2017 and shying away from these conversations won’t challenge the status quo.
"We also need real action to make change happen, and to help drive this we’ll be publishing new research in December into the barriers and enablers to career progression faced by employers from BAME backgrounds. The aim of our work is to provide practical insight for employers about how they can identify and break down the progression barriers in their organisation and enable people from all backgrounds to reach the top. HR professionals have a key role to play in ensuring people management approaches and workplace cultures are truly inclusive. "
