“It is disappointing to see that there has been little change in the UK’s gender pay gap figures from last year, although we understand that progress will take time. Research estimates that £150 billion in GDP could be raised by closing the gender pay gap. It is vital that the UK’s businesses continue to strive to close the gender pay gap – not just because it’s the right thing to do, but also because of the strong business case for it.
“The REC’s report Increasing opportunity, supporting growth set out a number of effective, practical methods which employers, recruiters and government can use to encourage more women into all levels of the workforce and close the gender pay gap further. The Hampton-Alexander review also praised the executive search community as “major drivers of progress” in putting more women on the boards of major companies.
“As skills shortages continue to worsen, employers will have to look to under-represented groups to fill vacancies, and they will only attract those candidates by using inclusive recruitment practices such as advertising roles on a wide variety of platforms and offering flexible working as standard for all roles. Recruitment agencies are helping their clients to take tangible steps to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace and help the UK’s economy to thrive.”
