ED&I Research

UK Recruitment Diversity & Inclusion Index

The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) collaborated on a project to better understand the level of diversity within the UK recruitment sector. Prior to this survey, there was little information on the different backgrounds of people that are working within recruitment in the UK. We needed a clearer view of where the sector is starting from to be able to measure the impact of driving the D&I agenda.

"When APSCo and the REC first embarked on this collaborative research, our hope had been to identify what the current make-up of the recruitment sector looked like, any discrepancies between corporate and individual views, and where diversity may be ‘lacking’." said Ann Swain, Chief Executive Officer of APSCo.

The research revealed that too many staffing companies are failing to record data on the

diversity of their staff:

  • 41% of staffing firms don’t record workplace demographics
  • Respondents said there is generally a culture of diversity and inclusivity in recruitment, but were less certain about their firms’ active policies
  • Religious beliefs and staff qualifications least likely of all data to be recorded

Download your copy of the full APSCo & REC UK Recruitment Diversity & Inclusion Index here.

APSCo will be working with members to provide best practice and legal guidance on recording demographic data to ensure recruitment companies can better identify where improvements to diversity and inclusion strategies may be required for their business.