Letters: Mind the gap – if you can see it

By Sascha O'Sullivan

[Re: To attract and retain the best talent, the Square Mile must break down class barriers, yesterday]

The diverse make-up of the candidates who stood for the leadership of the Conservative Party leadership should be a cause for celebration. But while the likes of Sunak et al. are reaching the summit of their professions, the opposite is true beyond Westminster.

The cost of living crisis affects us all, but it does not affect us equally. Research from non-profit People Like Us has found that people from minority ethnic backgrounds are disproportionately impacted by today’s challenging economic environment. This disparity starts in the workplace.

Working professionals from ethnically diverse backgrounds are nearly twice as likely to have been told they won’t be getting a promised pay rise this year due to inflation and two-thirds of racially diverse working professionals believe that a white colleague doing the same job is on a higher salary.

It is a simple equation. Ethnically diverse workers are more likely to experience stagnant wages and therefore more likely to experience economic hardship. These issues are set to deepen as the energy crisis widens.

To achieve this, we need to make businesses accountable. Mandatory gender pay gap reporting has helped the gender disparity. We are calling for mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting to do the same for race.

Sheeraz Gulsher

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