The Race Equity in Employment Task Force, convened by BITC and Action for Race Equality (ARE), met between May 2025 and May 2026 to identify practical, evidence-based actions that can improve employment outcomes for ethnically diverse young people and help tackle racial inequalities in the labour market. 

The Task Force brought together employers, community organisations, academics, policymakers and representatives from regional government, including teams from London and Greater Manchester. By creating space for collaboration, challenge and shared learning, the Task Force enabled key stakeholders to build a shared understanding of the barriers facing ethnically diverse young people and identify actions that can improve employment outcomes. 

BITC was represented by Sandra Kerr CBE, Race Equality Director, alongside three members of the BITC Race Equality Leadership Team, ensuring that employer insight, evidence and practical action remained central to discussions. 

Task Force members contributed expertise, lived experience, evidence and insights to develop recommendations focused on improving pathways into employment and progression. The final recommendations demonstrate a shared commitment to creating fairer pathways into good work, ensuring that talent is not overlooked and opportunity is accessible to all. 

Reflecting on the Task Force’s work, Sandra Kerr CBE, Race Equality Director at BITC, said: 

It has been a privilege to convene this Task Force together with Action for Race Equality and sit with key leaders who have generously brought all of their expertise, experience and insights together to face into the issue of youth employment, supporting young people from all backgrounds in the UK and breaking down barriers to create pathways into good work. The recommendations from the Task Force are evidence-based and solutions-focused, designed to ensure that no one is left behind.

Why the Task Force was established 

Young people are facing increasing barriers to entering and progressing in the labour market. Over one million 18- to 24-year-olds in the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET)¹, while evidence from BITC continues to highlight the barriers many ethnically diverse people face in recruitment, progression and workplace experience. 

At the same time, there is a significant opportunity for growth. BITC’s latest analysis shows that addressing racial inequalities in employment could unlock an additional £37 billion for the UK economy every year through improved participation, pay and progression². 

As BITC Chief Executive Ndidi Okezie OBE has said: 

The rise in young people not in education, employment or training is driven by inequalities that run deep, and they won’t shift without a real collective effort to act. That means joined-up working between business, charities, community organisations, local authorities and policymakers. None of us can fix this on our own.

The Task Force was established in recognition that meaningful change requires collaboration between employers, policymakers, educators and communities to create pathways into good work and enterprise for young people from all backgrounds. 

From evidence to action 

The Task Force’s work was informed by a decade of BITC Race at Work survey data and insights, evidence gathered by Youth Futures Foundation, employer experiences shared through the Talent Unlocked Partnership and direct engagement with young people. 

In October 2025, BITC reset the Race at Work Charter following ten years of evidence and insight, alongside findings from the Youth Futures Foundation’s Discrimination at Work Report³, and growing concerns about the rising number of young people who are NEET. The reset introduced a renewed focus on supporting 18- to 24-year-olds from marginalised and lower socio-economic backgrounds into good work and enterprise, recognising the increasing barriers many young people face when entering the labour market. 

Race at Work 2025 survey findings highlighted the important role employers play in creating pathways into employment. While 56% of employees reported that their organisation provides work experience opportunities, only 35% reported formal work experience programmes. The research also found that only 42% of employees reported that their organisation had at least one apprentice. These findings reinforced the need for greater transparency and more structured pathways into employment. 

Alongside this evidence, BITC convened Youth Employment Long Tables⁴, bringing together young people, employers and academics to explore the barriers young people face when accessing good work. These conversations helped ensure that lived experience sat alongside policy, academic and employer perspectives when shaping the Task Force’s discussions, recommendations and identifying practical actions that can support fairer access to opportunity. 

Taking a place-based approach is also important. BITC’s Regional Insights on Race factsheets provide regional data and insights that can help employers better understand the demographics of the communities in which they operate. The factsheets can help organisations identify where there are higher concentrations of ethnically diverse communities and young people aged 18–24, supporting a more informed approach to work experience, apprenticeships, early careers programmes and wider employment initiatives. This can help ensure opportunities are accessible and reach the communities they are intended to support. 

Recommendations for employers and policymakers 

The No Talent Wasted report sets out practical recommendations for employers, policymakers and wider stakeholders to remove systemic barriers to improve employment outcomes for ethnically diverse young people and create fairer pathways into good work. 

Key themes emerging from the recommendations include: 

The full report includes recommendations for employers, policymakers and wider stakeholders, together with examples of existing practice and opportunities for collective action. 

Scaling What Works: Opening Doors 

A recurring theme throughout the Task Force’s discussions was the importance of moving from commitment to implementation. Employers are increasingly looking for practical approaches that can help widen access to opportunity and reach talented individuals who may otherwise be overlooked. 

BITC’s Opening Doors campaign provides one example of how employers can put inclusive recruitment principles into practice. Launched in 2022, the campaign now has 175 employer signatories and has helped make 1.6 million jobs more accessible through responsible recruitment practices. BITC’s Opening Doors campaign provides one example of how employers can put inclusive recruitment principles into practice. Launched in 2022, the campaign now has 175 employer signatories and has helped make 1.6 million jobs more accessible through responsible recruitment practices.

Opening Doors provides employers with a practical framework of actions to improve accessibility throughout the recruitment process and has demonstrated tangible results. Among participating employers, 72% reported improved workforce diversity and 64% reported an improved ability to fill hard-to-fill vacancies. The campaign demonstrates how employers can translate ambition into action through practical changes to recruitment processes, peer learning and place-based collaboration.  

By connecting evidence, partnerships and practical action, Opening Doors demonstrates how employers can help create more inclusive pathways into work for underrepresented talent, including ethnically diverse young people, while helping to build more inclusive and resilient workplaces. 

Take action

Creating fairer pathways into good work requires collective action. Whether you are an employer, policymaker, educator or community organisation, there is a role for everyone in helping to unlock opportunity and tackle racial inequalities in employment. 

You can take action by: 

Together, business, government, community organisations and young people can help create a labour market where opportunity is open to everyone. 

Endnotes and references

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