The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills organised a roundtable, inviting representatives from local media groups to the Parliamentary in order to discuss the latest reports on BME employment in the UK.
Baroness McGregor-Smith, who led the event said “”I am delighted to be leading this review. It has never been more important to fully capitalise on the skills and talents of every individual in the workplace – regardless of their background. We need to remove barriers that for so long that have restricted BME talent from reaching the most senior levels in business. These actions will deliver long-term economic benefits for the UK.”
The roundtable, that took place on the 28th April at the House of Lords, brought up many concerns regarding BME employment in the UK. Representing Londra Gazete, one of our reporters Onur Uz also brought up Turkish communities’ concerns on Turkish speaking communities’ issues with employment.
On Thursday 13 April, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) released annual statistics on the number of black and minority ethnic (BME) people in work. These showed:
In 2015, 62.8% of people from BME backgrounds were employed, compared with 73.9% of the overall population;
In 2015, 9.9% of people from BME backgrounds were unemployed, compared with 5.4% of the overall population;
In 2015, 30.2% of people from BME backgrounds were inactive in the labour market, compared with 21.8% of the overall population. Business in the Community (2014) found that one in 10 employed people are BME, yet only one in 16 of top management positions and one in 13 management positions are held by BAME people. It also found the share of BME people in top management has increased by just 0.5% between 2007 and 2012, but in real terms the number of BAME people in top management positions has decreased from 95,023 to 73,378.
At the end of the roundtable, it was also declared that the committee may happen to meet regularly for the project’s continuity.