Asians to decide British firms' fortune
If you do not employ enough Asian and African origin workers, you may not get govt contracts in the UK.
By INDIATIMES NEWS NETWORK |
Number of Asian and African origin employees employed in an organisation will determine the fortune of British firms after a crucial decision taken by a committee consisting of seven ministers.
The Ethnic Minority Employment Taskforce, set up three years ago to tackle unemployment among Asian and African origin people, gave green signal to the government’s move to question firms bidding for government contracts about the ethnic composition of their workforce.
The Ethnic Minority Employment Taskforce, set up three years ago to tackle unemployment among Asian and African origin people, gave green signal to the government’s move to question firms bidding for government contracts about the ethnic composition of their workforce.
| The firms will be asked to provide figures showing the number of people of African origin and Asians employed. These will be compared to the proportion of people from ethnic minorities living near the company's offices and will be a factor when deciding on the winning bid. The pilot schemes involve contracts with Job Centre Plus, the Identity and Passport Agency and the Department for Education and Skills. If the pilot schemes are successful, positive vetting across other government departments could be introduced in 2007 |
The task force also authorised three pilot projects where this move will be tested. The three schemes involve contracts with Job Centre Plus, the Identity and Passport Agency and the Department for Education and Skills.
If the pilot projects succeed, the scheme will be extended to other sectors by 2007 itself. The committee observed, "If we are to make a significant impact on ethnic minority employment rates and earnings, we would need a government-wide application of policies to promote equality in suppliers’ workforces and a mechanism to support and enforce it."
One of the pilot projects is to be implemented in Jobcentre Plus offices. When firms bid for contracts with the organisation to supply training and courses for the unemployed, the ethnic backgrounds of their existing workforce will be scrutinised as part of the contract process.
A separate Home Office scheme will use ethnic monitoring when seeking tenders for temporary staff contracts in the much-criticised Identity and Passport Agency. Another pilot scheme has been authorised for the Department for Education and Skills, details of which are still being finalised.
These initiatives are based on US policies of “positively vetting” firms seeking public contracts. In the US, companies with more than 50 employees working on federal government contracts worth more than $50,000 (£26,000) must develop an affirmative action plan. But unless the US, firms with less than 100 employees may not be asked to reflect the ethnic composition of the local communities.
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Confirming that the civil servants have already examined the US Government’s schemes to increase the number of African origin workers through ethnic monitoring the committee further adds, “We have begun to consider options for what this may look like including looking at the role of the US Department for Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programmes and the creation of a database for pools of labour.”
In employing these practices in the UK, however, the external factors which may affect the number of ethnic minority employees in a company, will also be taken into account. For instance, firms based in rural areas are less likely to have ethnic minority employees since most African origins and Asian people live in urban areas. Companies that work in specialist areas, such as construction, will not be expected to employ large numbers of Asian women, who are less likely to work outdoors.
However, some firm believe that these proposals could lead to a situation were firms able to offer a competitive service are dissuaded from pitching for government work. Not by providing race quotas but by equipping workers with the skills businesses need the problem of high unemployment rate in some ethnic communities can be solved, they maintain.
The body behind this new scheme, the Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force was formed in response to the recommendations of the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit’s report on ethnic minorities in the labour market. It is the key mechanism for ensuring that departments work together, and delivers the first coherent cross-Government ethnic minority strategy.
It brings together key departments - Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Trade and Industry, Department for Education and Skills, Department for Communities and Local Government, Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Cabinet Office – together with representatives from the Commission for Racial Equality, the Trades Union Congress, the Greater London Authority and the Confederation of British Industry.
Some interesting information released by the task force is as shown below:
Population
One in 11 working age people in Great Britain are of an ethnic minority background.
Age
45% of the ethnic minority population is under 25 years old, compared with only 29% per cent of white people.
Over half people from Pakistani backgrounds are under 25 years old.
Over half people from Pakistani backgrounds are under 25 years old.
Distribution
Over three quarters of all working age ethnic minorities are concentrated in five main conurbations of Great Britain (London; West Midlands Metropolitan area; East Midlands cities; West Yorkshire; Greater Manchester).
Half of the Bangladeshi population live in Inner London.
Half of the Bangladeshi population live in Inner London.
Employment
77% of white people are employed compared with only 59% of ethnic minorities.
Bangladeshi women have the lowest employment rate of all groups, with just 23% being employed.
Over a quarter of ethnic minorities are employed in the distribution or hotel and restaurants industry sectors compared with under a fifth of white people.
Nearly half of employed people from Chinese backgrounds work in the distribution or hotel and restaurant industry sectors.
Bangladeshi women have the lowest employment rate of all groups, with just 23% being employed.
Over a quarter of ethnic minorities are employed in the distribution or hotel and restaurants industry sectors compared with under a fifth of white people.
Nearly half of employed people from Chinese backgrounds work in the distribution or hotel and restaurant industry sectors.
Unemployment
6.8% ethnic minority people are unemployed, compared with only 3.4% white people.
Unemployment among Indians is only 4%
African origin Caribbean men are the group most likely to be unemployed, with 9.8% of the population not in work but seeking work.
Unemployment among Indians is only 4%
African origin Caribbean men are the group most likely to be unemployed, with 9.8% of the population not in work but seeking work.
Economic Inactivity
The economically inactive group includes those who are working age retired, those studying, looking after the family or home and those people who are long term sick or disabled.
One in three people from an ethnic minority background are economically inactive compared with one in five people from a white background.
Nearly 75% of all Bangladeshi women are economically inactive compared with a quarter of white women.
61% of the Chinese people who are outside of the labour force are students.
Half of the Bangladeshi people who are outside of the labour force are taking care of the family or home.
One in three people from an ethnic minority background are economically inactive compared with one in five people from a white background.
Nearly 75% of all Bangladeshi women are economically inactive compared with a quarter of white women.
61% of the Chinese people who are outside of the labour force are students.
Half of the Bangladeshi people who are outside of the labour force are taking care of the family or home.
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