Capgemini UK hits high ranking in Social Mobility Employer Index

Capgemini UK has been named number 15 in the Social Mobility Employer Index and is the highest ranking employer in the IT & Telecoms sector for its commendable work in enabling those from lower socio-economic backgrounds to succeed.

The Social Mobility Foundation's Index recognises the top 75 UK employers who have taken the most action to improve social mobility in the workplace. In what is believed to be the world’s only Social Mobility Employer Index, the foundation ranks Britain’s employers on the work undertaken to ensure they are open to accessing and progressing talent from all class backgrounds.

“We are delighted to feature in the Social Mobility Employer Index for the second year running – and to have improved our position – recognising our ongoing commitment to removing barriers and providing opportunities for all,” says Paul Margetts, Managing Director of the UK Business Unit and Chair of the UK CR&S Board at Capgemini. “This is fantastic recognition and shows the continued progress we are making toward greater inclusion through our Active Inclusion programme.”

Assessing employers on all areas of social mobility

The index assesses employers on everything – from the work they do with young people and their apprenticeships, through to their recruitment and selection processes and how people from lower income backgrounds progress up the ladder within their organisations. For the index, 125 employers from 18 sectors, who collectively employ over 1.1 million people in the UK, answered around 100 questions across 7 different areas. Over 14,000 employees also took part in a voluntary employee survey.

David Johnston OBE, Chief Executive of the Social Mobility Foundation, said: “We are delighted to see more and more employers every year taking part in our Social Mobility Employer Index. The quality of submissions this year meant we have increased the size of our Top list from 50 to 75 and it shows the very wide range of organisations trying to make progress on social mobility."

"Whilst no employer would say they have cracked their social mobility challenge, all of the employers in the Top list – along with those that didn’t quite make it – should be congratulated for the efforts they’re making to ensure their organisation is open to talent from all class backgrounds.”

Measures to enable social mobility

Capgemini UK has taken many impressive and pioneering measures to enable social mobility.

Capgemini UK runs a market-leading apprenticeship programme, which creates opportunities for those who are looking for an alternative to university, and a volunteer-led Coding Academy with Code Your Future, which has trained and supported 25 refugees, with several of the course participants now working at Capgemini.

Apprenticeships Capgemini UK

Capgemini UK also targets its schools outreach work on social mobility “cold spots” and works closely with organisations including The Prince’s Trust, Urban Synergy, Apps for Good and more to support young people from a wide range of backgrounds

Capgemini UK also encourages internal advocacy in highlighting different backgrounds and routes into its industry from team members at all levels.

Finally, Capgemini UK's strengths-based recruitment process also looks for potential rather than past experience, which supports recruiting apprentices and graduates who may have not had the opportunity to take up work experience.

“Social mobility is becoming a cause for more and more of our country’s top employers. When politics is weak, society needs to be strong – so it is welcome a growing number of employers are stepping up to the plate," addedThe Rt Hon Alan Milburn, Chair of the Social Mobility Foundation.

"They recognise the need to open their doors to a wider pool of talent both to address growing public concerns about unfairness and to reap the business benefits from having more diverse workforces. The onus is now on all of our country’s top employers to do the same.”