Despite post-Floyd assurances, diversity gap exists in British businesses

• Aparna Sreevalsan
• 14 June, 2023

DESPITE some of Britain’s biggest businesses pledging to address issues of equality, diversity, and equality, since the murder of George Floyd and the re-emergence of Black Lives Matter movement –  little to no progress has been made – claim the authors of a new report.

Startlingly – there are no black chief executives or chairmen of FTSE 100 companies.

Perspectus Global polled 2,000 office workers in its study, and the results showed that nearly 70 per cent of office workers claim that their companies have not expanded the number of leaders who are black, Asian, or from another ethnic group.

Lack of progress in diversity in leadership is hindering British businesses’ appeal.

The poll also revealed that 57 per cent of black employees believed that they had been passed over for promotions, with 59 per cent of them attributing this to the colour of their skin.

Following Floyd’s murder, businesses in the US alone offered $50 billion (£40bn) for racial equity projects, including funding civil rights organisations, contributing to ethnic communities, and changing hiring and training practices.

Marcus Whyte, the creator of Zyna Search, the organisation that Marcus Whyte, founder of Zyna Search, the company that commissioned the survey, claimed that many businesses made commitments to increase diversity in the wake of Floyd’s passing.

He did point out that there are now no black chief executives or chairpersons of the FTSE 100.

“So many companies pledged to do better on diversity after George Floyd’s killing,” said Marcus Whyte, founder of executive search company Zyna Search. “But if we look at the FTSE 100 today, there are no black chief executives or chairpersons. I would like to see meaningful and measurable progress with black, Asian and ethnically diverse employees represented at all levels of businesses.”

Nearly 50 per cent of black employees claimed they had to anglicise their names to make them easier for a coworker to pronounce, and 60 per cent claimed they had to “code switch”—adjust certain parts of their look or language to fit in with accepted workplace norms.

“It is a positive sign that work to address racism in the workplace had begun in offices across the country,” said Whyte. “But the report shows more work still needs to happen, especially in terms of senior leaders and those with influence and power in the workplace.”