The Index is in its eighth year and the 2024 edition saw 150 organisations enter, accounting for the employment of just under one million people. With a 30,000-plus strong workforce in the UK and Ireland people are at the heart of Sodexo’s business.
Sodexo says it is committed to promoting equitable opportunities, valuing diversity and creating inclusive workplaces where individuals feel they belong to a company where they can act with purpose and thrive in their own way.
Mark Goodyer, human resources director at Sodexo UK & Ireland, said: “This is the first year we have featured in the top 75 and we will use this valuable ranking to continue to lead our industry on social mobility, making demonstrable and continued progress on areas such as recruitment, pay, progression and advocacy.
“We truly believe that we have the power to be a driver of social mobility – a force for good. Socio-economic diversity is essential to the success of any organisation. We know that a diverse workforce positively impacts on the services we deliver to our clients, and ensures our teams include individuals representing the communities in which we operate.”
Sodexo initiatives include:
- Apprenticeships: strategies involve reaching into the most marginalised of geographies, groups and communities to offer the opportunities where they are most needed.
- DFN Project SEARCH: a transition-to-work programme for students with learning disabilities and autism spectrum conditions.
- Starting Fresh: a programme created to raise awareness of the potential talent organisations can find from prison leavers.
- Choose Hospitality Pledge: Sodexo is helping attract young people to the hospitality industry through a series of career workshops held at Sodexo Live! venue partners.
- 10,000 black interns programme: Sodexo has long been committed to promoting equitable opportunities.
- The Switch project: in 2023 90 primary school pupils aged between 9-10 took part in a Business Enterprise Employability programme.
- Volunteering: 78 volunteers from Sodexo supported the programme providing 143 hours of skills-based volunteering.
In 2025, to mark the tenth year since it first pledged commitments to positively impact its people, the planet, its partners and local communities, Sodexo UK and Ireland will publish a brand new social impact pledge outlining commitments to deliver tangible meaningful change.