Post-Brexit and the Covid pandemic, many UK businesses—especially in sectors like manufacturing, construction, and hospitality—face challenges in attracting and retaining talent. If your business is struggling with high turnover, recruiting from chronically under-employed populations can be a powerful way to access committed workers while also supporting social mobility.
In a recent Gloucestershire B Local webinar, companies shared how this approach has delivered real business benefits:
- Cotteswold Dairy: By employing long-term prisoners nearing release, Cotteswold Dairy filled key roles while supporting community resettlement. Over two years, 8-12 prisoners have joined the workforce daily, with two now fully integrated into permanent roles, bringing both stakeholder and shareholder value.
- Standing Tall: This not-for-profit partners with businesses to match individuals who’ve experienced homelessness with stable, Living Wage jobs. The result? Employees who are committed, reliable, and driven by the life-changing opportunity to rebuild their futures. This not only helps fill vacancies but also strengthens employee engagement across the business.
- Not Impossible: By offering micro-work experience opportunities (1-hour to 1-day) for disadvantaged young people, businesses can access new talent, while employees gain meaningful mentoring and management experience. This initiative helps widen talent pipelines and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
I see a three-pronged approach you could take with your business to help break cycles of disadvantage and drive social mobility:
1. Preventative: Provide purposeful work experience opportunities to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, with an organisation like Not Impossible
2. Immediate support: donate to organisations, like Standing Tall, which are making systemic change and providing homeless people with the skills to get themselves into a more stable situation
3. Regenerative/long-term support: set a target of recruiting and developing your workforce from chronically under-employed groups e.g. prisoners, people experiencing homelessness, disadvantaged young people, people living with disabilities, with organisations like Standing Tall, New Futures Network, Women’s Work Lab, We work for everyone
I wonder…If we are able to provide more career direction from a young age, particularly to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, would we would have such high levels of homelessness and/or people in the prison system in the UK?
If you’re curious to discuss how you could embed a social mobility focus into your business, get in contact camilla@betterbusinessbetterworld.org
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