Levelling the playing field: social mobility and the skills gap

When speaking to our clients, we often hear of the challenges they face in recruiting a sufficient number of staff who possess the skills that are relevant to the needs to their business. This anecdotal evidence is supported by research from the Institute of Directors (IoD), which indicates that since the beginning of 2023, approximately 40% of IoD members have consistently reported that skills shortages and employee skills gaps are adversely affecting their organisations. In this article, David Pickess, Audit Manager, explains the way in which social mobility could help to alleviate some of these pressures.

Let us start by considering what it meant by social mobility. In simple terms, this refers to someone’s ability to “move up the ladder” without facing barriers due to either their social or economic background. What underpins this is the need to foster a culture of providing equal opportunities to people from all backgrounds to enable them to fulfil their potential. But is this actually the case in the UK?

Unfortunately, there is evidence to the contrary: a report on social mobility that was published in late 2023 by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) concluded that it may be harder now than at any point in over half a century to “move up” if you are born in a position of disadvantage. Clearly this is a sobering thought, but does this mean that all hope is lost? Most observers agree that a robust skills policy must be a key element to increasing social mobility – at the heart of the UK skills policy during recent years have been apprenticeships.

We are fortunate in the world of accounting and audit that apprenticeships have been part of our profession for many years now, but could more be done to foster inclusion both within our profession and beyond? One key message is for businesses to look to reach people who may otherwise fall outside their usual talent pool. A simple example here would for be for businesses to advertise in different places and via different means in order to try to attract a different cohort of people.

The way in which businesses assess potential recruits is another key area to be considered. On the basis that different people receive different opportunities during their lives, the assessment methods a firm adopts at the recruitment stage should look to build-in sufficient flexibility to ensure that candidates are not overlooked simply because of their background.

There is much more detail that could be covered in this area. However, the argument remains that by levelling the playing field to provide good-quality opportunities to a wider range of society, businesses should in-turn benefit from having access to a broader pool of talent that could possess skills that are more closely aligned with employers’ needs. On the back of a recent election which has seen much discussion and debate on the subject of economic growth, this should only be to the benefit of the business community and the wider society, in terms of its potential impact both economically and socially.

As part of their annual audit process, your external auditor will review and assess the key risks that your business may face. For many clients, especially labour-intensive businesses, this may include the risks arising in areas such as the recruitment, retention and training of staff, together with the longer-term implications these may have on succession planning. If you are interested in discussing this further, please email hello@scruttonbland.co.uk or call 0330 058 6559.