Launch of the 2024 Social Mobility Employer Index

Top-ranking UK employers who have taken the most action on social mobility in the workplace are announced for 2024

Government should mandate big firms’ reporting on employees’ class background

16 October 2024

In celebrating the launch of the 2024 Social Mobility Employer Index this week, the Bridge Group supports the Social Mobility Foundation in its call for the government to mandate firms of more than 250 employees to collect and report socio-economic background workforce data.

The Bridge Group has a longstanding relationship with the Social Mobility Foundation, originating in our support for the creation of the Employer Index in 2017. Since the first year, we have offered advice and evidence to help shape the criteria and marking scheme for the Index. The Employer Index has become vital in providing employers with a practical framework for driving change, and on assessing progress.

Data this year reveals that the tech and creative sectors have increased their entries to the Employer Index by 60% and 43% respectively. The Social Mobility Foundation selectively highlighted these increases, since the two industries have significant challenges relating to socio-economic diversity. Indeed, the Bridge Group had previously undertaken research with both these sectors and found them to be particularly unrepresentative of the UK workforce with respect to socio-economic background.

Regarding the launch of this year’s report, the CEO of the Social Mobility Foundation, Sarah Atkinson, said:

“We’ve got a productivity problem in this country. We need to make the most of all the UK’s talents – it’s the key to unlocking growth. But too many people from working-class backgrounds are being shut out of our workplaces and held back from reaching their potential.” 

The Bridge Group commends all the 150 organisations that submitted to this year's Employer Index. Nik Miller, CEO of the Bridge Group, said:

“The rigour of the Index means that there is great value in preparing a submission since it compels employers to consider their approaches and policies across a wide range of areas. The benchmarking inherent in the exercise is also vital to understand the progress achieved, by individual organisations and in aggregate across employers.”