• Swindon & Wiltshire Social
• Friday February 14 2025
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Swindon-based Zurich helps narrow class pay gap

Swindon-headquartered insurance giant Zurich is helping to narrow the gap between staff from a working class background and those who had a more privileged start in life.

The insurer this week became the first in its sector to make public its socio-economic pay gap.

The report shows median pay gap between employees from professional and lower socio-economic backgrounds is -4.2 per cent – against a 12 per cent gap nationally.

And the trend seems to continue to the top of the business, with one in five senior leaders declaring they come from a working class background.

Three quarters of Zurich UK’s 5,000 staff took part in the survey, which found that 28 of employees come from ‘professional’ backgrounds, 10 per cent come from ‘intermediate’ backgrounds, and 23 per cent come from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

The average in the entire financial services workforce, according to The Social Mobility Commission, is 45 per cent from a ‘professional’ background, 21 per cent intermediate, and 34 per cent from a lower background. And around nine in ten senior roles in financial services are filled by people who grew up in richer households.

Steve Collinson, chief HR officer at Zurich UK – who identifies himself as coming from a working class background – said: “Today’s announcement represents a firm commitment from us to understand and implement social equity drivers within our organisation.

“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.”

To improve social equity, Zurich UK has introduced eight initiatives:

1. Social mobility ambassadors’ group: volunteer members raise awareness and build new policies while aiding others in workplace progression.
2. Skills-based hiring: remove barriers faced by having limited work experience.
3. Removed unnecessary qualifications from job descriptions: remove qualifications such as university degrees if they’re not necessary to the role.
4. Donate clothes to Suited & Booted London: help vulnerable, unemployed and low-income men get access to suitable interview clothing, advice and mentoring.
5. Awareness training: help people leaders and hiring managers to understand social mobility barriers.
6. Internal mobility and up-skilling opportunities: create and support apprenticeships, development programmes and succession planning to aid progression.
7. Share data: One of three insurers to contribute internal data to the Bridge Group/Progress Together data report to compile the largest-ever study into socio-economic diversity and progression in financial services.
8. ‘Social capital’ inclusion programme: partners new starters without corporate experience with senior leaders who provide advice on network building and skills to accelerate a sense of belonging and enable long-term rewarding corporate careers.

The Social Mobility Foundation has been calling for employers to measure and report on their class pay gap following research that those from working-class backgrounds are paid an average of £6,287 or 12 per cent less than those from professional backgrounds – despite being in the same professional occupations.

Sarah Atkinson, CEO of Social Mobility Foundation said: “It’s great to see companies like Zurich UK taking the lead by voluntarily publishing their socio-economic pay gap and taking steps to ensure that your background doesn’t determine your pay or career progression.

“We hope this will encourage more employers to act on social mobility, including by taking part in our Social Mobility Employer Index.

“No matter your background, being fairly rewarded for your work is what we all expect. But our research shows that in professional occupations people from working-class backgrounds are paid less than their peers from higher socio-economic backgrounds – effectively working one-in-eight days for free. This is holding both brilliant people and the UK economy back.

“The upcoming Equality (Race and Disability) Bill plans to make ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting compulsory for all large employers.

“We’re calling on the government to introduce mandatory socio-economic background reporting at the same time.

“This small change could make a huge difference to our understanding of the barriers to opportunity, meaning we can then break them down.”

Recent initiatives by Zurich have aimed to support autistic people in finding employment, tackle domestic abuse,  and attract working mums back to the workplace