Racism in the UK Labour Market Is a Considerable Concern

The labour market in the United Kingdom has been long experiencing racial discrimination against ethnic minority communities. Coronavirus pandemic has increased jobless minorities across the country and in the Capital city of London. 

Ethnic Joblessness Was 70% Higher for Two Decades.

Various studies discuss that there is deep racism in the UK labour market. This problem has been bolded more during the Coronavirus pandemic. In British society, there have been more employment barriers on the way of employment for the ethnic minority groups. Ethnic minority unemployment has been 70 percent higher than white unemployment for the past 20 years. The systematic and structural racism in the UK labour market severely affected the youth minorities during the pandemic.

The young non-white workforce was more likely to lose their jobs in the lockdowns. London was the worst region of the country where high unemployment affects ethnic minority groups. When young Londoners from non-white groups search for a job, they face racial discrimination. Racism in the UK labour market is so huge that many members of ethnic communities have experienced it. 

Structural Racism Exists in UK Labor Market 

Throughout the last two decades, the ethnic minority workforce was less employed than the white workforce. The history of structural racism is repeating today in four corners of the country. Minority groups face racism in the UK labour market. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) reported that the black minority group is offered inferior working conditions, receives lower money, and experiences a high level of job insecurity. During the Coronavirus pandemic, more black workers have lost their jobs than the white British.

The ethnic minority groups had experienced the hardest economic hit in the pandemic. Job losses rates prove the structural racism in the UK’s labour markets, where ethnic groups and women are affected more. More people from ethnic communities experienced losing their jobs than white British people. 

More Job Losses among People of Ethnic Minority 

One year after the Covid-19 hit the UK, 13 percent of white people said they lost their jobs. But among the minority communities, one in five people lost their jobs. Around 34 per cent of people from ethnic minorities said they had their working hours reduced. It was compared with 23 percent of white people who had their working hours decreased. Since the start of the pandemic, 42 percent of jobless youths around the UK have not had a job for six months or more. Despite rising job vacancies to a record high, it is a crisis of youth unemployment. Different ethnic minority groups experience various unemployment. People from white and Indian backgrounds have the lowest unemployment, and people from Black and Bangladeshi background have the highest unemployment rate. 

Prejudice Is at the Heart of UK Employment 

Unemployment and losing jobs hit the black and Asian youths at a high level. Since the start of the pandemic, youths’ unemployment in the capital has soared 55 percent. Based on a national report, the jobless rate is 4.3 percent, but the real figure is five times higher. A joint survey by the Evening Standard and The Independent said that in London, the young black workforce is twice as likely to be unemployed as the white workforce. Figures show 37.4 percent of young black people in London are unemployed. Around 20.6 percent of young jobless Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, are jobless. And 17.5 percent of young white Londoners do not have a job. Racism in the UK labour market is at the heart of unemployment rates. There are prejudice and inequality that deny many ethnic minority workers secure a decent job.

Government Should Challenge Job Discrimination 

People say those with names that imply they are not white British have to submit 80 per cent more job applications to receive a positive response. People from black or Asian communities with hard-sounding names are less likely to receive job invitations from employers. Marsha De Cordova, Shadow Secretary for Women and Equalities, warned about the deep racism in the UK labour market. She urged the UK government to accept the existence of structural racism and challenge it. Trades Union Congress (TUC) General Secretary Frances O’Grady expressed concern about the working conditions of ethnic minority workers. She mentioned the existing inequality in the UK, where ethnic groups are more in low-paid and insecure jobs. She said inequality should be stopped, and Ministers should take decisive action to challenge the discrimination against ethnic minorities. 

Governmental Support Can Help Tackle Job Racism 

London School of unemployment reported even when considering factors like geography and education; ethnic minority groups have higher unemployment rates. Based on employment studies, 68 per cent of ethnic minority groups are at work in the UK. This is around two-thirds of the ethnic minority population compared with four-fifths (78 percent) of the white population. Part of this employment inequality is a result of racism in the UK labour market. People with ethnic minority backgrounds have to submit 60 percent more job applications than the majority group. The issue has existed for decades in the UK, but not many efforts have been made so far to address it. Employment inequality is also due to a lack of official measures to support races. The UK government should support ethnic minority groups and employer bodies to better tackle racism in the UK labour market. 

Non-White People Are Poorer in the UK

Unemployment has caused more poverty among the Black and Bangladeshi groups in the UK. White British people are ten times more wealthy than the Black and Bangladeshi people. They are victims of racism in the UK labour market, even though they are borne or educated in the UK. There are hurdles in the labour market for people with African or Asian backgrounds. They not only should submit more job applications but find less good jobs. There are high levels of discrimination for black African and black Caribbean groups in the UK labour market. Moreover, Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups are discriminated against by employers. So, ethnic minorities in the UK rely more on their social networks to find jobs. In comparison, white British does not need to rely on family and friends to be employed. 

Conclusion 

Studies and surveys show that people with non-white backgrounds face challenges of racism in the UK labour market. This issue, however, is not a novel challenge and has existed at least for the last decades. For the past twenty years, ethnic minority unemployment was 70 Higher than the white people. Young people with black, Indians, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and other Asian and Caribbean backgrounds have to submit a lot more job applications compared with their white peers. Many of these young people are born or educated in the UK, but they do not receive a phone call from employers because of their race and names. During the Coronavirus pandemic, a higher number of those ethnic minorities who were at work lost their jobs. There is structural racism in the UK labour market, and people are victims of prejudiced attitudes. More job losses and unemployment resulted in more poverty and inferior social level among people of ethnic minority groups. The UK government should take decisive action to tackle job discrimination and help challenge racism across the UK.