On
average, ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom experience higher
unemployment, lower pay, and fewer opportunities for advancement than
whites. At the same time, half of the growth in the working-age
population over the next five years will come from ethnic minority
groups even though they make up only 8 percent of the U.K. population.
Thus, failure to address the employment barriers that ethnic minorities
face will have severe economic and social costs. Through the Fair Cities Initiative, the National Employment Panel, which provides advice
on the design, delivery, and performance of the U.K. government’s labor
market policies and programs, is exploring ways to engage employers in
addressing this challenge.
To inform Fair Cities, JFF undertook an
international study of employer-led initiatives that take full account
of the recruitment and skill needs of employers while helping ethnic
minority job seekers to overcome specific barriers, such as language
skills and discrimination. Fair Cities: Employer-led Efforts that Produce Results for Ethnic Minorities identifies key issues for
policymakers who wish to promote promising local initiatives. The
report includes case studies of a range of initiatives from the UK, the
United States, Canada, The Netherlands, and Germany.
