D&I and Social Mobility Policy

Our ESG GOALS

We ensure everything we do as a business aligns with our purpose, values, and ongoing commitments. We’re committed to assisting our clients in setting and achieving their own ESG goals. We support our clients in making eco-conscious decisions through our Client Services function. This includes reviewing their policies and advising them on small steps they can take to impact big changes.

Our Purpose Fund allows clients to support ‘tech for good’ projects. The Purpose Fund is an opportunity for our clients to invest in ESG initiatives without the need for big budgets, through reinvesting recruitment cost savings. We work with our clients to identify the key initiatives on offer that best align with their purpose or the key areas they have identified for change.

Our commitment

As a sector, technology is hugely lacking in diversity - in 2022, only 19% of tech workers are female, 15% are from ethnically diverse backgrounds, and a third of LGBTQIA+ young people aren't pursuing roles in tech due to worries about discrimination.

The lack of diversity and representation in the tech sector is something we felt a strong need to address. We needed to find a way to attract a diverse workforce to ensure we weren't actively contributing to this lack of representation. That meant creating a diverse pipeline that would feed into the sector in general. Enter our tech training partner, _nology...

Clients tell us what roles they need to fill and what skills they're looking for, and we find hardworking, passionate individuals that want to kickstart their career in tech, often with no previous coding experience. Through _nology, we train them in the tech stack needed, and place them in the role with the client once they graduate from our course. We support clients by delivering highly trained, diverse talent in a skill-short market, creating a more diverse workforce overall.

Connecting people with opportunities is what we do - regardless of their background. This not only fills the gap in technology, but fills it with diverse talent and opens doors to a future that may not have been possible otherwise.

OUR _nology CONSULTANTS

• 48% female
• 17% LGBTQIA+
• 63% ethnically diverse
• 76% career-changers
• 67% non-STEM backgrounds

Our DIVERSITY-FIRST MARKETING approach

Our Marketing team work to ensure our messaging is reaching the right people, proven by the fact that we have a 98% success rate of filling roles within the tech sector with our course graduates. We offer bespoke, multi-channel advertising campaigns to reach an audience that these opportunities would otherwise be inaccessible to, fulfilling the needs of the client whilst promoting diversity and inclusion at every stage.

We specifically market to underrepresented groups, including women, ethnically diverse individuals, the LGBTQIA+ community, and those from underprivileged backgrounds. By marketing directly to these groups, we are able to dispel myths around working in the tech sector and prove that there is space for everyone.

Internally, we're committed to diversity. Our HR and Learning and Development teams host regular webinars and workshops focused on D&I topics, such as unconscious bias training. Our wellbeing hub, Opus Well-Rounded, focuses on different key topics each month, all centred around the importance of healthy work and personal lives, and offers practical advice and resources to support our team.

Social Mobility

Our commitment

The core focus of our initiative partner, _nology, has always been diversity and inclusion within the technology sector. As such, we are committed to investing in positive change, through funding tech training and securing employment for talented, passionate people from underrepresented and underprivileged backgrounds. This is facilitated via our CSR partnerships and community work through _nology.

Employment opportunities are secured by the 2000+ organisations we work with. We find talented, underrepresented people, fund their training, and dramatically increase their employability, helping them realise their full potential.

We use targeted campaigns to promote social mobility, and, alongside our existing initiatives, we work closely with _nology to create space in the tech sector for people from underrepresented backgrounds. We run partnerships with a number of organisations who are also committed to social mobility. They guarantee a role for successful _nology graduates, and we find, and fund the training of, the right talent for the opportunity, ensuring they are equipped with the necessary skills and tech stack for the job.

OUR CSR partners

We fund the training of every individual who joins _nology via one of our CSR partners.

THE PRINCE'S TRUST

This UK charity focuses on helping underprivileged and vulnerable young people get into education and employment.

Resurgo

Resurgo is a charity that's committed to supporting individuals from underprivileged backgrounds and connecting them with transformational opportunities.

THE SUTTON TRUST

The Sutton Trust helps individuals harness their full potential by breaking down societal, educational, and financial barriers.

NATIONAL AUTISTIC SOCIETY

As the leading UK charity supporting those on the autism spectrum, they campaign for inclusive opportunities.

RFEA: THE FORCES EMPLOYMENT CHARITY

The RFEA provides support and employment to Service leavers, veterans, and reservists, as well as their families.

BAKED BEAN

This initiative supports young adults with special needs and disabilities, promoting inclusive education and employment opportunities.

Employment partnerships

Alongside our existing initiatives, we work closely with _nology to create space in the tech sector for people from underrepresented backgrounds. We run partnerships with a number of clients who are also committed to social mobility. They guarantee a role for successful _nology graduates, and we find, and fund the training of, the right talent for the opportunity, ensuring they are equipped with the necessary skills and tech stack for the job. We offer bespoke, multi-channel advertising campaigns to ensure we reach an audience that these opportunities would otherwise be inaccessible to, fulfilling the needs of the client while promoting diversity and inclusion at every stage.

"Thank you for taking so many of our young people forward, so glad that they impressed and so grateful for you giving them these opportunities... It really is a dream opportunity for them."

James Woolley, Employer Partnerships Manager at Resurgo

"**** is a truly refreshing member of the tech team. She brings a different way of thinking and is unafraid to challenge the status quo of an already very innovative business."

Mode Banking

You can also learn more about our tech training partner, _nology, by visiting the websites: UK, Australia and USA.