Social Mobility Business Compact
Published 1 June 2015
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The Social Mobility Business Compact asks employers to open their doors to people from all walks of life, regardless of their background.
Aim of the compact
The aim of the compact is to address elitism and improve social mobility by encouraging businesses to open up opportunities to everyone. The government believes no one should be prevented from fulfilling their potential because of:
- where they’re born
- the school they went to
- the jobs their parents do
Taking action to open up opportunities to individuals from socially diverse backgrounds is also vital if businesses are going to successfully access untapped talent.
Compact commitments
Compact signatories commit to take action to:
- work with schools and communities to raise the aspirations of young people
- provide fair, accessible and high quality work experience and internship opportunities
- recruit fairly and ensure that their recruitment practices eliminate barriers to social mobility
The compact does not say how businesses should meet these commitments. It welcomes businesses who drive forward change in new and innovative ways, and who are willing to share their experience of what works.
It is free to join the compact and to attend compact quarterly networking meetings.
Over 190 businesses have become compact signatories from a wide range of sectors including legal, retail, finance and energy.
We are not currently accepting applications but will provide an update shortly.
Read the list of businesses already signed up
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) introduced the champion tier of the compact in 2014. The aim was to encourage employers to do more to improve social mobility and increase the pace of change. As well as bringing about change within their own organisations the ambition was to have a champion tier that could lay the foundations for others to follow.