Black women feel the least empowered in UK offices

Black women feel the least empowered in UK offices compared to other ethnicities and men when it comes to making a decision at work.

This is according to Engaging Works, annual Empowerment research which found that only 57 per cent of black women feeling empowered at work compared to the average of 66 per cent.

Females, in general, scored below the average with 61 per cent and white and black males scored 72 per cent and 68 per cent respectively.

Arabic women came top with 76 per cent, with Asian men scoring 71 per cent and Hispanic men at 72 per cent.

Employees in the architecture and engineering, education, financial services, healthcare and public sector industries feel the least empowered. Those who work in the automotive, retail and travel Industry feel their views are not heard at work. With millennials and non-managers feeling significantly less empowered and trusted.

Those who work in technology, marketing and advertising, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and business and management services state they feel empowered.

The research also showed that employees feel more empowered working from home compared to when they are in the office, with 73 per cent of staff feeling empowered whilst working from home compared to 65 per cent when in the office. Even managers feel more empowered whilst working remotely, with 80 per cent stating this during the lockdown in contrast to 71 per cent prior to COVID-19.

 Lord Mark Price, founder of Engaging Works and former minister of state at the Department for International Trade said:

Our annual research shines a light on the need to empower black employees, specifically black females in the workplace. Organisations must act now to help employees from the black community feel empowered and trusted to make decisions at work. This can be done by making them a key part of the decision-making process as well as listening to their ideas and integrating their suggestions to build and refine business strategies.

This research is based on the Engaging Works Workplace Happiness Survey which has been taken by over ten thousand employees globally since 2017.

Darius McQuaid

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Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.

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