June 12, 2025

Driving social mobility through skills: Three CEO insights

Social mobility remains a pressing issue in the UK. Despite widespread recognition that talent is everywhere, access to opportunity often isn’t.

It’s a challenge that requires purposeful collective action. In celebration of Social Mobility Day 2025, this blog shares unique perspectives from three organisations working to address this issue:

Skills Builder Partnership, with insights from Dr Michael Englard, UK CEO
Progress Together, featuring Sophie Hulm, CEO
Financial Services Skills Commission, with analysis from Claire Tunley, Chief Executive

Together, they explore how building skills can unlock potential, break down barriers, and drive lasting change across the employee life cycle.

In this blog, the CEOs answer seven key questions:

Why do you believe skills development is a key driver of social mobility?
What do you see as the biggest barriers to social mobility in the workplace?
What are some of the biggest barriers to skills development?
What do you feel is the role of businesses, educational institutions and policymakers within social mobility?
What specific initiatives do you think are making a difference?
How is AI changing the skills needed? What opportunities does AI offer to look at talent differently?
How can leaders create a culture that fosters and values learning for all?

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Why do you believe skills development is a key driver of social mobility?

Dr Michael Englard, UK CEO, Skills Builder Partnership: Skills matter. Good grades help but they're not enough. To get decent jobs and thrive, people need essential skills like leadership, creativity, and problem-solving. Too often, these skills are the missing link in social mobility. Excitingly, we've got the opportunity to change things and we know what works. We can get real benefits and returns on developing our skills all through our lives.

Sophie Hulm, CEO, Progress Together:
Skills development is one of the most effective drivers of social mobility because it rewards potential and capability, not connections or familiarity with unwritten rules. Investing in inclusive upskilling offers a clear, practical path to equity in financial services, where access has too often been shaped by background. It opens doors for underrepresented talent and builds a sector that reflects true merit. This isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s a smart strategy. As McKinsey notes, closing the skills gap through inclusive development could boost Europe’s GDP by up to 9% by 2030. Financial services firms that lead on this will shape a more dynamic, resilient workforce - and a fairer future.

Claire Tunley, Chief Executive, Financial Services Skills Commission: Skills are the currency of the future. When organisations prioritise what people can do, rather than just their qualifications or experience, they open doors for individuals from all walks of life. Our research shows that demand is rapidly rising for human-centric skills like adaptability, creativity, empathy and coaching; qualities that aren’t tied to a qualification or a specific job title.

This shift towards skills-based hiring doesn’t just help individuals. It makes businesses more agile, more inclusive, and better prepared for the future. When companies move towards skills-based hiring, they tap into a much broader and more diverse pool of talent. That’s a win for everyone.

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What do you see as the biggest barriers to social mobility in the workplace?

Sophie Hulm, CEO, Progress Together: One of the biggest barriers to social mobility in the workplace isn’t performance, it’s perception. Unspoken norms like ‘cultural fit’, polished communication, or insider networks often act as hidden filters. Subtle but systemic, they quietly shape who gets seen, heard, and promoted - holding back talented individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds. If we want true equity, we must redefine what merit looks like. Until organisations confront these biases and broaden their definition of potential, the diversity we see at the entry-level will never be reflected at the top. At Progress Together, that’s exactly what we’re working to change.

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What are some of the biggest barriers to skills development?

Dr Michael Englard, UK CEO, Skills Builder Partnership: There’s an appetite from everyone to build essential skills: young people, educators, and employers alike. Two major barriers stand in the way: a shared language, and a way to measure progress. The Skills Builder Universal Framework solves for both. It’s a brilliant, open-source resource that provides the clarity and structure needed to develop essential skills at every stage of life.

Claire Tunley, Chief Executive, Financial Services Skills Commission: Time, clarity, and focus are needed for skills development, but are often in short supply. Many organisations know skills are important, but they struggle to prioritise development alongside the pressures of day-to-day business.

To unlock real progress, we need to rethink how learning happens, because it’s not just about formal training sessions. Some of the most effective learning happens informally: on the job, in conversations, and through self-directed exploration. Encouraging this kind of learning, in the flow of work, can make all the difference, helping employees build future-ready skills without needing to hit pause on their roles

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What do you feel is the role of businesses, educational institutions and policymakers within social mobility?

Claire Tunley, Chief Executive, Financial Services Skills Commission: Our People + Technology report shows that 260,000 highly skilled workers will leave the sector in the next 10 years, mainly to retirement. So, we’re facing a serious talent gap. The solution? Casting a wider net.

Businesses need to look beyond traditional talent pipelines and embrace options like apprenticeships, returner programmes, and early careers initiatives. Crucially, shifting to skills-based recruitment – where the things you can do matters more than where you’ve been – can uncover untapped talent and foster more diverse, inclusive teams.

Sophie Hulm, CEO, Progress Together:
Employers are responsible for ensuring that career progression is driven by performance and merit, instead of outdated norms or biases. We strongly encourage employers to begin collecting and analysing data on employees socio-economic backgrounds. This data provides a clear baseline, empowering evidence-based decisions to address disparities - whether across specific roles, regions, or career stages. To support these efforts, we have collaborated on research initiatives such as VOICE and EY’s report on the role of DEI in enhancing productivity, helping to close these gaps, and promoting fairer workplace opportunities. Educational institutions also have a vital role to play. They must nurture diverse talent by equipping students with relevant, future-facing skills and providing access to bridging programmes and work placements that prepare them for the world of work.

Dr Michael Englard, UK CEO, Skills Builder Partnership: Everyone in business, education, and policy has a responsibility to improve social mobility. By working together, we can build systems that give people the skills and knowledge they need to get on in life. The need is urgent. Very soon, nearly 1 million young people aged 16-24 will be not in education, employment, or training or NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training.)

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What specific initiatives do you think are making a difference?

Sophie Hulm, CEO, Progress Together: Initiatives that prioritise data collection and peer benchmarking are essential for helping firms understand their position and craft effective strategies. Forward-thinking leaders are committing long-term resources and embedding inclusive policies to keep their organisations attractive to talent across all socio-economic backgrounds. Practical measures - such as removing unnecessary job criteria, eliminating non-essential degree requirements, and increasing pay transparency - are also proving effective in attracting and retaining a more diverse talent pool. Equally powerful are structured mentoring, sponsorship, and targeted development programs that support career progression for employees from lower socio-economic groups - initiatives that are beginning to drive meaningful change in outcomes.

Dr Michael Englard, UK CEO, Skills Builder Partnership: There are fantastic things happening across the country. One that stands out is the "cradle-to-career" model pioneered by Reach Academy in Feltham and being adapted in schools and colleges throughout the UK. Shifting our approach to focus on working in communities over the long-term feels like exactly the kind of systems change we need.

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How is AI changing the skills needed? What opportunities does AI offer to look at talent differently?

Dr Michael Englard, UK CEO, Skills Builder Partnership: Our most recent research from our Essential Skills Tracker 2025 highlights a clear link between essential skills and AI adoption. Workers with stronger essential skills are 30% more likely to use AI at work, and those who can earn £8,300 more on average. But it’s not just about capability; it’s also about confidence and wellbeing. Employees required to use AI daily report anxiety levels 43% higher than average, yet those with higher essential skills are linked to lower anxiety and greater resilience. Now more than ever, businesses need to invest in these foundational human skills—to prepare their people not just to work with AI, but to thrive because of it.

Claire Tunley, Chief Executive, Financial Services Skills Commission: AI is disrupting work. Not by replacing people, but by changing what skills matter most. While we’ll always need technical experts, the broader workforce needs to understand AI, use it responsibly, and work alongside it effectively. AI offers a powerful incentive to think differently about talent. Not just who has the credentials, but who has the potential to grow, adapt, and thrive in an AI-enabled world.

Interestingly, our research Unlocking AI’s potential: the skills that matter shows that as AI becomes more capable, human skills such as empathy, communication, and critical thinking are becoming even more valuable. We found a 35-point gap between the demand for AI-related skills and behaviours, and the supply of available talent. That’s a wake-up call for companies to act now: assess future skill needs, invest in tailored training, and collaborate across the sector to stay ahead.

Sophie Hulm, CEO, Progress Together: AI has the power to enhance social mobility by creating new, merit-based career opportunities - especially through inclusive reskilling and breaking down traditional hierarchical barriers. The RISE with AI report highlights that financial services firms investing in equitable upskilling can enable individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds to access higher-value roles. However, risks remain: without fair access to AI education and strong governance, AI risks reinforcing existing inequalities. For example, only 38% of employees from lower socio-economic backgrounds currently have access to generative AI tools - compared to 48% of their more advantaged peers. They are also a third less likely to use these tools weekly, revealing gaps in both access and confidence. The critical opportunity lies in using AI not just as a technology upgrade, but as a tool for true workforce transformation.

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How can leaders create a culture that fosters and values learning for all?

Claire Tunley, Chief Executive, Financial Services Skills Commission: Culture starts at the top. When leaders champion learning – not as a one-off initiative but as a core part of business strategy – they send a powerful message.

Employees are drawn to organisations where growth is part of the culture. When leaders talk openly about their own learning journeys and show how development links to company goals, it becomes part of the culture, especially when they make space for learning in day-to-day work. Creating a learning culture isn’t about big budgets or flashy programmes. It’s about consistency, curiosity, and showing that learning is everyone’s business.

Sophie Hulm, CEO, Progress Together: Leaders shape an organisation’s culture, and fostering a learning mindset begins with them. To truly champion learning for everyone, leaders must embody innovation, reward growth, not just results, and create safe environments where curiosity is encouraged. Inclusive learning cultures break down the stigma of ‘not knowing’ and offer tailored opportunities for people from all backgrounds to build new skills. The Rising with AI report reveals a stark gap: nearly half (46%) of employees from lower socio-economic backgrounds don’t plan to pursue new digital skills in the next year - 10 percentage points more than those from higher socio-economic groups. This highlights a critical challenge around motivation, access to training, and readiness for the future. When leaders commit to accessible, ongoing development, they send a clear message: talent and potential exist everywhere - not just at the top.

Dr Michael Englard, UK CEO, Skills Builder Partnership: If we're going to help individuals to succeed, we need to build a culture that values working together for the long haul. The challenges we face are systemic, so it's only through collaboration that we can make a real difference.