Employer toolkits: building more inclusive workplaces?

Employer toolkits are designed to help employers remove barriers for particular jobseekers, including young people, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups and mature-age workers.

Some jobseeker groups experience difficulty in securing employment due to perceived gaps in their employable skills, qualifications or experience. Others are effectively ‘screened out’ during recruitment processes on the basis of their gender, race, ethnicity, language, age or disability. Labour market participation for these groups is affected by the human resource practices of employers, as well as the nature of support they may receive to address perceived ‘employability’ gaps.

In contrast, ‘inclusive employment’ can be defined as all efforts that promote fair and equitable access to decent employment, ensuring satisfactory pay and conditions, career prospects and opportunities for social integration.

In this study we investigate the advantages and limitations of ‘toolkits’ for influencing more inclusive employment practices.