'Racial disparity still alive and well in workplace - we are going backwards'

12 June 2023 , 20:32

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Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina have made a docuseries, Paid in Full: The Battle for Payback

It's officials – we are going backwards.

After all the hand-wringing, black squares, emotional bloodletting and promises of solidarity post-George Floyd, the majority of companies across the UK have still not addressed their lack of Black or Asian leadership.

After the £40billion-worth of corporate pledges made to address racial inequality in the workplace after Floyd’s murder in May 202 0, we are back where we started.

Worse off, in fact.

They were all at it three years ago, promising to do whatever it took to fix the disparities relating to race around the decision-making table.

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But a study of 2,000 workers has revealed nearly 70% of those quizzed said their firms had not increased the number of Black, Asian or ethnic minority leaders.

Many of those recruited to senior positions have found their ideas rejected, their pitches for ideas snubbed, and have been passed over for promotion.

In sport, football continues to endure a racism crisis – witness the outcry over the abuse directed at the Real Madrid star Vinícius Jr recently – because of the lack of people at the top who actually understand the problem.

Some Black players are even ­considering setting up their own union to deal with the issue themselves. In entertainment, the BBC is
struggling to retain Black staff who eventually leave due to a lack of progression.

In music, the issue is so acute that actor Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina have made a docuseries, Paid in Full: The Battle for Payback, to explore it.

It hasn’t helped that a government committed to disruption and a rejection of diversity – unless it involves demonising or deporting Black and Brown people – has fomented a culture of division.

Friends of mine report being told by influential individuals at their place of work they’ve “had enough” of having to think about diversity.

Even getting into some companies has proven a challenge with all-white recruitment teams opting for what
they know.

Almost half of the Black staff polled revealed they’ve had to anglicise their names to make it easier for a colleague to pronounce. Even now.

Sixty per cent felt that they had to “code switch” – adjust aspects of their appearance or language to conform to perceived workplace norms.

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It all means we need to stop kidding ourselves that we are making progress when the opposite is true. Heads are still in the sand where it matters.

Darren Lewis