Equality and Diversity high on the agenda amongst UK firms

63% of UK employees claim to belong to a company with an active equality and diversity recruitment policy

London, 15th September 2004 - As more and more firms recognise the benefits of introducing Equality and Diversity (E&D) to their recruitment policies, Monster.co.uk asked the UK public if they were aware of their company’s commitment to the rising trend. Surveys still demonstrate that despite growing awareness of E&D in the workplace, negative discrimination is still commonplace in many industry sectors.

Underlining the importance of E&D in the UK today, the Government is seeking to launch a Community Cohesion and Race Equality strategy this autumn. This will form the basis of a renewed programme of action, across Government and more widely, to build community cohesion and reduce race inequalities.

The Monster Meter asked: Does the organisation you work for have an equality and diversity recruitment policy? 461 Monster.co.uk site visitors responded revealing:

32% - Yes, I work in the public sector

31% - Yes, I work in the private sector

18% - No, I work in the private sector

14% - No, I’m not aware of this

3% - No, I work in the public sector

Despite common belief that the public sector is way ahead in terms of commitment to E&D, the poll surprisingly revealed that the private sector also has an active equality and diversity policy. 32% of respondents from the public sector and 31% from the private sector responded positively to the question, giving a total of 63% of respondents who work for a company which places E&D high on its agenda.

The results of the poll are very encouraging and show that UK firms are recognising the importance of E&D. It is a particularly poignant topic for Monster, as we were the very first specialist recruitment company to introduce the concept three years ago, comments Joe Slavin, Managing Director, Monster.co.uk. Not only do we actively recruit staff from all different kinds of backgrounds, but we encourage our clients to do the same. We believe that companies should be given the opportunity to send a clear message to candidates that they will recruit on the basis of merit and experience.

The results of the current Monster Meter are based on votes cast by Monster.com visitors from 16th August to 30th August 2004. Only one vote per user is counted toward the final tabulation. The Monster Meter, a product of Monster, the leading global online careers site and flagship brand of Monster Worldwide Inc., is a series of online polls that gauge users’ opinions on a variety of topics relating to careers, the economy and the workplace. Anyone interested in voting in Monster’s current online poll may do so by logging onto: