Ethnic minorities are using temporary work as a ‘stepping stone’ to enter the labour market, a report has found.
‘Increasing Employment Rates for Ethnic Minorities’, published by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, found more than one in 10 temporary workers are from an ethnic minority, almost twice as many as the UK average.
The report also found the number of unemployed ethnic minority people was 14% higher than the national average, a drop of only 1.3% on 20 years ago.
Anne Fairweather, the Recruitment Employment Confederation’s head of public policy said: “The employment gap for ethnic minorities is still extremely high. But interestingly, ABOUT 12% of temporary workers are from an ethnic minority – much higher than the UK average of 7%. This shows temporary work is being used as a stepping stone for ethnic minorities to enter the labour market.”
“Recruitment agencies often provide a more flexible recruitment process which means that people from diverse backgrounds are more likely to succeed in securing employment,” she said.
The report has called on Jobcentre Plus to provide more help for unemployed ethnic minorities.
