A cross-party group of MPs and Peers is calling on businesses and employers to review their recruitment process and have suggested changes to make it fairer.
The Women and Work All-Party Parliamentary Group, co-chaired by MP for Birmingham Yardley Jess Phillips and MP for Chichester Gillian Keegan, is calling on employers to recognise that changes to recruitment processes can provide opportunities for women across sectors and from different backgrounds. Often, measures to tackle some of the barriers cost little or nothing.
Suggestions for changes are given in the publication of the group’s new toolkit How to Recruit Women for the 21st Century.
Gillian Keegan MP, Co-Chair of the Women and Work APPG said:
“I’m really pleased that the Women and Work APPG examined recruitment during 2018 to highlight ways to overcome the particular barriers faced by women. We have published this call for action to employers, to encourage them to think differently about how, where and who they hire, as part of open and inclusive recruitment process. We’ve also called on government to support employers to do this.”
Jess Phillips MP, Co-Chair of the Women and Work APPG said:
“If employers are to successfully hire and attract the best, diverse talent, they need to take recruitment seriously and review their processes. This toolkit encourages employers and policy-makers to make those changes, giving practical steps that will go some way in shifting persistent obstacles that women face when entering and re-entering the labour market.”
The publication of the toolkit follows a programme of meetings over the course of 2018 which examined the recruitment process from start to finish.
Alongside the hints and tips for employers, the toolkit includes policy recommendations for Government to support employers making these changes.