RUTH SUNDERLAND: Class is the prejudice still swept under the corporate carpet

We all love a good rags-to-riches story, especially at Christmas, perhaps as a cleansing antidote to the seasonal orgy of consumption.

Dick Whittington, a poor boy who makes his fortune and rises to become Lord Mayor of London, is a perennial pantomime favourite.

In modern parlance, he is an example of social mobility and the meritocracy most of us would like to imagine prevails in the world of 21st century business.

Ignored: Research commissioned by accountancy firm KPMG found its staff were held back in their careers more by class than by any other so-called ‘diversity characteristic’

Disappointingly, the real man who inspired the legend, a 14th century City merchant named Richard Whittington, was not a destitute orphan but the scion of a wealthy and well-connected family.

Social mobility is becoming a hot topic. Research by investment bank Goldman Sachs found that, compared with other developed countries, people from a disadvantaged background in the UK are less likely to climb the income ladder. 

The Social Mobility Commission dislikes the ‘Dick Whittington’ model on the basis it is about creating ‘elite pathways’ for an exceptional few and wants to focus on smaller improvements for a wider range of people.

However one looks at it, social class has been oddly absent from corporate thinking on diversity. 

Firms have been falling all over themselves to recruit and promote more women and BAME candidates, but have shown rather less enthusiasm for recruiting from lower social classes.

A recent piece of research commissioned by accountancy firm KPMG found its staff were held back in their careers more by class than by any other so-called ‘diversity characteristic’. In other words, social background has a bigger impact than gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

The study claims that this social discrimination costs the UK £39bn a year. I’ve no idea how they have alighted on that number. 

However, it seems fair to conclude there is wasted talent on a very large scale, a damaging situation for individuals, companies and the economy.

Orthodox thinking is that it is the job of the education system to create opportunities for bright youngsters from disadvantaged homes. 

Even when these young people graduate, however, the barriers are not demolished, as the KPMG study has identified. The research also found staff from lower social backgrounds faced bottlenecks mid-career, though it is not clear why.

When working-class employees made it to the very top ranks at the firm, however, they began to progress faster than their more privileged counterparts – possibly because they had to be so brilliant to get there.

This suggests to me employers need to recognise that a working-class background (like my own) should not be seen as a stigma or an unalloyed hindrance.

It can bring its own advantages, including an ability to overcome obstacles and a shared personal experience of how millions of customers and clients live.

In a post-Covid economy, blighted by labour shortages and poor productivity, businesses cannot afford to sideline individuals just because their accent does not appeal. 

But, in an increasingly woke corporate world, class is the prejudice still swept under the carpet.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk