Careers In Group Diversity & Inclusion Report 2024

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While focused on niche sectors of the employment and recruitment market, CareersinAudit.com and Careers In Group job boards and their users represent a small cross-section of the wider talent attraction industry.

Diversity and Inclusion is just as important to specialist sectors as it is to the wider world of work. But what is diversity, why is it important for both business and talent attraction, and how does this relate to Audit and Governance?


What is diversity and inclusion?

Diversity is the differences of colour, ethnicity, abilities, age, gender, beliefs, education, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, and many other characteristics. Diversity recognises that people are different in a variety of visible and non-visible ways and that these differences are to be recognised, respected, valued and celebrated within the workforce.

Inclusion is the practice of including people in a way that is fair for all. Differences are valued and empowered so that individuals can be themselves to achieve their full potential and thrive at work.

Being inclusive of the differences of individuals within the workplace not only empowers people but it is also beneficial for business innovation, problem solving and decision making as a diverse workforce brings a diverse set of backgrounds, experiences, and ways of thinking.
 

Diversity and inclusion are good for people and businesses

Diversity and inclusion is not just a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) buzzword, the moral argument for fairer and more inclusive workforces and labour markets is beyond doubt and benefits us all.

It is also paramount for sustainability of businesses. Everybody benefits when an assortment of thoughts, ideas, and strategies from a diverse selection of people are upheld within an organization.

Some of key benefits for upholding the principles of diversity and inclusion for businesses are talent, reputation, and performance.

People naturally will want to work for employers with good employment practices and within organisations where they are valued. For a competitive edge, businesses need their employees to be able to make their best contribution. Flexible working and job design are also important parts of D&I strategy as they can attract and retain a wider talent pool.

For corporate reputation, businesses consider social exclusion as a factor that can potentially limit their markets and growth. Employers also take into account their public image as a vital part in talent attraction and retaining customers and employees.

Research from McKinsey’s ‘Diversity Matters’ report found that the more diverse firms are likely to be more profitable. They found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams were 15% more likely to experience above-average profitability than companies in the bottom quartile. This trend is similarly mirrored for ethnic diversity where companies in the top quartile for ethnic diversity are 33% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the bottom quartile.

Being open to diversity gives business access to more talent and inclusion allows businesses to engage with their employees effectively, leading to better innovation, creativity, and productivity.
 

Diversity and inclusion within Audit

Historically, the audit sector has seen to be dominated by men. Along with wider industry trends, there have been changes and some success in improving diversity within the Audit and Governance sector. Women now make up over 42% of Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors members. However, of FTSE 350 Chief Audit Executives it’s believed that only 30% are women.

However, there are still areas of improvement that need progress regarding equal representation of ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds amongst auditors.

The Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) 2023 Key Facts and Trends report found that firms with over 2,000 employees had the highest percentage of individuals from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds at manager level at 17.7%.

But at the other end of the scale, the report found that the same-sized firms had the lowest percentage of individuals from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds at partner level at 7.9%.

Meanwhile, firms with 200 to 2,000 employees had the highest percentage of female senior managers at manager and director levels with 50.4% and 41.7% respectively.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) stated in September 2023 that increased diversity and inclusion in regulated financial services firms could deliver better internal governance, decision-making and risk management. Plans to introduce a new regulatory framework on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in the financial sector for 2024 are currently in review.
 

User diversity on Careers In Group job boards

CareersinAudit.com and the Careers In Group job boards have led the way in diverse candidate attraction within the global Audit and Governance recruitment sectors since 2005. We continue to lead the way in 2024, targeting and attracting a diverse candidate base of specialist professionals for employers and recruiters to hire in 2024 and beyond.

We are proud to publish the Careers In Group candidate Diversity & Inclusion figures for 2024. As the market-leading global job boards for Audit, Risk, Compliance, Cyber Security, Analytics, ESG and Sustainability professionals, we will continue to target and attract a diverse candidate base of specialist professionals for employers and recruiters to hire.
 

Key Demographics

Our investigation into Careers In Group candidate demographics revealed a fairly equal split across male and female users (51% vs 49%), as well as candidates who have and do not have children (48% vs 52%). 

With the majority of users based in the UK and Europe, it was expected that a high number of users would fall under the White/White British category, however 29% of registered professionals in the UK identify as BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic).


 

D&I Demographics 2024


Ethnicity figures are based on our UK audience. If you would like our ethnicity figures for any other country, please contact us.


Career Demographics

As niche job boards, it comes as no surprise that the majority of our registered users (74%) are at Supervisor level or above. Once established in the Audit and Governance industry and with valuable experience under their belt, most jobseekers will search for new opportunities on a job board that specialises in their chosen career area rather than a generalist job board with jobs posted across every industry cluttering their search.

 

D&I Career Demographics 2024

 

If you have any questions or would like to discuss a Diversity and Inclusion talent attraction campaign for your organisation, please contact us today.

You can also download a PDF version of this report here.

 

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