Zurich UK announced the publication of its social mobility pay data alongside eight initiatives designed to tackle barriers to career progression for employees from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Zurich is the first insurer to publish this data, and one of just a handful of companies in the UK to do so.
Analysis across 73% of Zurich UK’s 5,000-strong UK workforce shows the median (mid-point) socio-economic pay gap between employees from professional and lower socio-economic backgrounds is –4.2%. In comparison, the mean average pay gap at the insurer is 10.5% between those from professional and lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Zurich’s UK workforce is split 28% from professional backgrounds, 10% from intermediate backgrounds and 23% from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The Social Mobility Commission reported that the composition of the entire financial services workforce is 45% from a professional background, 21% intermediate and 34% from a lower socio-economic background.
Steve Collinson, Chief HR Officer at Zurich UK, said: “Sharing these pay gaps, alongside the measures implemented to enable social mobility, is a great way to shine a light on what is currently the best kept secret in DEI; social mobility is the linchpin of shifting the dial on multiple diversity characteristics.
“Whilst ‘chipping away’ at the class ceiling is certainly a step in the right direction, smashing it is the ultimate goal. Social mobility is the next step in achieving a truly diverse workplace and I’m proud to say that at Zurich, your socio-economic start in life doesn’t determine your future career.”
