Having recently observed how Danielle Le Verite was so viciously savaged by people in the UK – constantly attempting to dehumanise both the woman and her family by making specific reference to her “London working class accent” – as if this was something she should be ashamed of, along with reading an insightful article by Julie Waters in the Daily Mail concerning the old fashioned British class system taking over the British arts scene again, had me looking deeper into this topic. Studies done by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission found that top legal, finance and accounting firms openly and unashamedly discriminate against people from working class backgrounds.
Here is one of the more stand-out comments:
“Is there a diamond in the rough out there?” the unnamed recruiter told researchers. “Statistically it’s highly probable but the question is … how much mud do I have to sift through in that population to find that diamond?”
From Benefits Street to the Orcs in the Lord of the Rings movies having ‘Cockney’ accents, it would appear that the British class system is back with a vengeance, and what’s more there is hard evidence to support this. A major report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission determined that top legal, finance and accounting firms wantonly discriminate against job applicants as well as their own existing employees from working class backgrounds. The discrimination was clearly identified as being on the employer’s end.
Unacknowledged “poshness tests” at elite British companies are thwarting the career prospects of talented working-class applicants and reinforcing social division, according to a government study.
The research by the social mobility and child poverty commission found that old-fashioned snobbery about accents and mannerisms was being used by top companies to filter out working-class candidates and favour the privileged.
