Current, Employer engagement
Talent Unlocked
Driving businesses to empower ethnically diverse young people.
What are we doing?
In a three-year partnership with Business in the Community (BITC), the UK’s largest responsible business network, we are urging and equipping employers to create pathways for ethnically diverse young people who are currently not in education, employment or training, to secure, sustain, and succeed within employment.
Together, we are equipping employers to turn knowledge into action – cultivating workplaces where Black, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and other ethnically diverse young people can thrive.
Overview
Talent Unlocked is a partnership in three parts:
Seeing is Believing
Read more about Seeing is BelievingTo inspire change, we’re taking business leaders to see for themselves the challenges that Black, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and other ethnically diverse young people face when trying to secure and sustain good work.
Through Seeing is Believing visits in Brent and Burnley, employers are meeting the young people who represent the next generation of talent in these areas. Senior leaders will come away with an understanding of the barriers ethnically diverse young people in the local area face, and the interventions they can introduce in their own business to help to dismantle similar barriers.
Pioneering employers
Read more about Pioneering employersA group of 13 pioneering employers from a range of sectors have signed up to receive two-years of intensive support to:
- Understand the challenges faced by Black, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and other ethnically diverse young people seeking to enter and progress within their workplaces.
- Trial and test targeted initiatives to break down ethnic disparities and cultivate more equitable, inclusive working environments that support the recruitment and retention of ethnically diverse young people.
At the end of the programme, the Pioneers will share learning across their sectors to scale impact.
Employer engagement
Read more about Employer engagementTo drive nationwide action, Business in the Community’s flagship Race at Work Charter has been refreshed, with a new Commitment that challenges employers to support the pathways of ethnically diverse young people out of unemployment and into good work.
Underpinned by evidence from the 2025 Race at Work Survey, we’re equipping employers with guidance and recommendations on how they can meaningfully engage and empower this group of young people.
With over 1,100 organisations already signed up to the Charter, we are driving widespread action to open up opportunities for ethnically diverse young people to access and thrive within the workplace.
Programme aims
As the What Works Centre for youth employment, we want to improve knowledge mobilisation to create evidence-informed change.
Through the partnership, we are urging employers to:
- Listen to young people: Understand the barriers to accessing and thriving within work for Black, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and other ethnically diverse young people who are not in education, employment or training.
- Engage with the evidence: Recognise the business benefits of accessing and empowering ethnically diverse young people.
- Convert understanding into action: Embed evidence-based practices and commit to meaningful change.
