The 30th Fair Employment Monitoring Report has been published by the Equality Commission.
The report is drawn from data provided to the Commission by employers, based on their workforces in the year 2019. The total monitored workforce was 564,826 an increase of 1597 (0.3%) over the previous year.
The breakdown of the monitored workforce by community background was [50.5%] Protestant and [49.5%] Roman Catholic, an increase in the Catholic share of [0.2 percentage points] from the year before.
Women account for 52.3% of the monitored workforce, an increase of 0.5 percentage points from the previous year. Women make up 45.7% of the private sector workforce, an increase of 0.5 percentage points, while in the public sector, they account for 65.8% of employees, the same as the previous year.
In 2019, members of the Roman Catholic community represented [53.1%] of all job applicants and Protestants [46.9%]. In 2019, the gradual decrease observed in 2017 and 2018 in the share of applicants from members of the Roman Catholic community ceased. Those from the Roman Catholic community accounted for [53.3%] of all appointees, and those from a Protestant community [46.7%], both the same as the year before.
This year, those whose community background was not determined represented 11% of the overall monitored workforce, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from last year.
Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission, Mrs Geraldine McGahey, said:
“For three decades the monitoring process has made an important contribution to ensuring fair participation in workplaces across Northern Ireland. Today we are publishing the 30th Fair Employment Monitoring Report, in which the Commission continues to shine a light on the progress made across Northern Ireland.
“The monitoring process continues to remain relevant today. It provides individual employers with information to help them address issues within their own workforce and allows the Commission to work with both private sector employers and public bodies to address the imbalances highlighted from their monitoring.
“It is our longstanding recommendation that monitoring requirements should be extended to include nationality and ethnic origin, to allow employers to make a more accurate and meaningful assessment of fair participation in their organisation. Indeed, The Executive has committed, in its Racial Equality Strategy, to examining where ethnic monitoring should be introduced and consulting on proposals for implementation. We look forward to this being progressed.
“Fair participation in our workplaces ultimately benefits us all and provides a sound foundation for our businesses, economy and society to thrive and succeed.”