Research published by the Trades Union Congress in July 2005 finds slow progress in closing the 'employment gap' between white and ethnic minority workers in the UK. This is despite evidence from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development suggesting that employers are experiencing difficulties in recruiting workers. It also comes at a time when race equality is high on the government’s policy agenda.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) published a report entitled Black workers, jobs and poverty in July 2005. It analyses official statistics to show that unemployment amongst the UK’s ethnic minority communities currently stands at 11%, compared to 5% for white workers. Furthermore, the overall employment rate for ethnic minority people is much lower than for the working age population as a whole. In 2004, the rates stood at 59.4% and 74.7% respectively. The gap has closed slightly since 1997, when the respective employment rates were 54.8% and 72.6%, but the TUC calculates that progress at such a modest pace means that it could take 46 years before employment is as high amongst the black working age population as it is amongst the white working age population.
Discrimination
The TUC blames employer reluctance to recruit ethnic minority candidates, even though they may be better skilled than fellow white job hunters, for the continuing gap between the numbers of black and white people out of work. Its report finds that, whatever the level of qualification, an ethnic minority person is more likely to be unemployed. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'tackling employer prejudice and bigotry during the recruitment process must be a priority for unions, but active job creation schemes targeted on areas of high unemployment are also a must if we are not to continue to see huge differences in the numbers of black and white people out of work for the next 50 years.' However, separate TUC analysis of current government training and employment-placement initiatives suggests that ethnic minorities are also disadvantaged under schemes such as the 'New Deal' for 18 to 25 year-olds, where the disparity between white young people and those from ethnic minorities on the 'employment option' is described as 'startling'.
The TUC also believes that 'establishing collective bargaining on race equality is key if institutional racism in the labour market is to be defeated'. Work has already started with the 2005 TUC equality audit focusing on the collective bargaining process. The results of the audit will highlight what initiatives affiliates are taking to mainstream race equality into collective bargaining and what work needs to be done. Following the equality audit, the TUC will be establishing a website where affiliated unions will be able to exchange good practice. Training will be developed on equality bargaining to assist affiliates, and guidance on negotiating equality will be produced to assist stewards. The TUC is also campaigning for the establishment of union 'equality representatives' with a statutory role to help deal with issues of inequality in the workplace.
Labour shortages
The TUC’s findings come at a time when the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) reports that the vast majority of firms are struggling to fill vacancies. Its latest annual survey on Recruitment, retention and turnover, covering 715 UK employers, found that 85% had experienced recruitment difficulties in the last year. Commenting on the survey findings, Rebecca Clarke, recruitment and retention adviser at the CIPD, said: 'Low unemployment and a generally buoyant economy have made it a job-seekers’ market. Employers are fighting over a small number of potential recruits, and are left facing real difficulties getting the right people into the right jobs.' In response, over two-thirds of employers (68%) were appointing people who did not have all the skills and experience required to do the job, and nearly two-fifths (38%) were recruiting migrant labour to fill vacancies.
Government initiatives
The issue of black and ethnic minority employment has become increasingly important in terms of government policy in recent years. A recent government report estimated that more than half the growth in the working age population over the next 10 years will come from minority ethnic communities, providing further support for the government’s 'business case' for equality and diversity. Other specific initiatives include:
- strengthening the Race Relations Act 1976. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 placed a general duty on specified public authorities to work towards the elimination of unlawful discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups in carrying out their functions. It required public bodies to set up 'race equality schemes' to set out a clear plan of action to make race equality a central part of their business, placing specific duties on them to consider the impact on race equality during the development and management of policies and services. These initiatives are also linked to target-setting for the recruitment, retention and progression of black and ethnic minority people. For example, there is currently a target for 8% of senior civil servants in the Home Office to be from minority ethnic backgrounds by 2009;
- setting up an Ethnic Minority and Employment Taskforce (EMETF) in 2003. The EMETF is the first cross-departmental strategy on ethnic minority employment and was established in response to the Prime Minister’s pledge to work towards removing discriminatory barriers faced by black workers in the labour market by 2014. It delivered its first report, Equality, opportunity, success, in November 2004. Representatives from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and TUC, who are key members of the taskforce, launched a joint statement on ethnic minority under-employment, setting out their commitment to the taskforce’s objective that no-one should be disadvantaged in their employment prospects because of their ethnicity;
- launching the government’s 'race equality strategy ' in January 2005. The strategy document noted that: 'In the labour market the gap is closing between ethnic minority groups and the majority population, but most still have lower employment rates, particularly women.' Initiatives include 'more tailored support for jobseekers from such communities', with further efforts to improve literacy and numeracy for disadvantaged groups, and making 'better use of government procurement', which amounts to some GBP 104 billion per year between central and local government, 'to promote diversity and race equality in those organisations that supply public bodies'; and
- identifying measures to increase the employment and business growth of ethnic minority and faith groups. In the December 2004 Pre-Budget Report, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, asked the National Employment Panel (NEP) in cooperation with the Ethnic Minority Business Forum, to recommend measures to increase the employment and business growth of ethnic minority and faith groups. The NEP is an employer-led organisation which advises government on labour market policies and performance. It submitted 10 key recommendations in March 2005, which were accepted in the 2005 budget, and published its full report Enterprising people, enterprising places, in May 2005.
Commentary
Ethnic minorities continue to face disadvantage in employment despite a buoyant labour market and the high political profile given to racial equality issues. The latter reflects: social concerns to do with discrimination and inclusion; economic concerns about labour shortages; and political sensitivities following the Stephen Lawrence inquiry report in 1999, which criticised the 'institutional racism' of the Metropolitan Police. Awareness is also linked to the further development of equality law in response to EU Directives and the subsequent announcement of a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights in the 2004 equality white paper 'Fairness for all' (UK0407102N).
The reasons for employment disadvantage are complex, embracing demand- and supply-side factors to do with employer discrimination, lower levels of 'human capital' (education and training), and higher rates of inactivity in some minority groups. That progress is slow in reducing economic disadvantage, at a time when both employment levels and political concern are at their highest for some time, is worrying. The business case is effective only insofar as individual employers are willing to take action to break down employment barriers to people from ethnic minorities. Similarly, government attempts to better educate and train disadvantaged workers depend on employer cooperation for success. Trade union efforts to place race equality on the collective bargaining agenda are commendable but ultimately confined to those parts of the economy where trade unions are strongest, notably the public sector where employers are more generally sympathetic. Notwithstanding these intrinsic problems, however, the development of a 'joined-up' policy approach across government, taking on board the views of minority representatives as well as those of the social partners, has been a vital first step. (J Arrowsmith, IRRU)