Zurich ‘first insurer’ to publish social mobility data

Zurich UK published its social mobility data on 12 February 2025, revealing a mean 10.5% average pay gap between employees from professional and lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

The insurer, which believes it is the “first insurer” to publish this type of staff information, based its findings on snapshot data across 73% of its 5,000 UK staff, collected as at April 2024.

This found that its employees from professional socioeconomic backgrounds were paid a mean average of 10.5% more than their counterparts from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in terms of hourly pay.

However, when looking at the median average, employees from a professional socioecnomic background were paid 4.2% less in terms of hourly pay compared to colleagues from a lower socioeconomic background.

Steve Collinson, chief human resources officer at Zurich UK, said: “[This] announcement represents a firm commitment from us to understand and implement social equity drivers within our organisation.

“Sharing these pay gaps, alongside the measures implemented to enable social mobility, is a great way to shine a light on what is currently the best kept secret in diversity, equity and inclusion – social mobility is the linchpin of shifting the dial on multiple diversity characteristics.

“[While] chipping away at the class ceiling is certainly a step in the right direction, smashing it is the ultimate goal.”

Zurich UK’s figures are better than the current average recorded by charity The Social Mobility Foundation. Its 2024 research found that individuals from working class backgrounds earn, on average, £6,287 or 12% less than those from professional backgrounds, even when working in the same occupations.

The charity has called for more employers to measure and report on their class pay gaps.

Removing barriers

Zurich UK has so far implemented eight initiatives aimed at promoting social equality and removing workplace barriers for individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Socioeconomic background typically considers a person’s education, income – including parental salary – and occupation.

These schemes include an internal Social Mobility Ambassadors Group, which raises awareness and develops new policies to assist workplace progression, donating job interview appropriate clothing to charity Suited and Booted London, providing awareness training to leaders and hiring managers and pairing inexperienced new starters with senior leader mentors in its Social Capital Inclusion Programme. 

Its initiatives centred on recruitment strategies include adopting skills-based hiring practices, removing unnecessary qualifications from job descriptions, such as university degrees, and offering mobility and upskilling opportunities within its apprenticeships, development programmes and succession planning.

Zurich UK is also one of three firms, including Aviva and Lloyd’s of London, to contribute its data to an annual study into socioeconomic diversity and progression in financial services conducted by non-profit consultancy The Bridge Group and not-for-profit membership body Progress Together.