Published on: 05 May 2020
On Tuesday, Maritime UK, the industry body for the maritime sector, launched its new Diversity in Maritime programme.
The programme will see the establishment of networks across diversity challenge areas, including the existing Women in Maritime Network plus two inaugural new groups, LGBT+ and Mental Health, which will build upon the structure of Women in Maritime established in 2018.
The UK government’s Maritime 2050 strategy states “The maritime workforce of the future will be diverse. New roles, new technologies and a changing image of the sector will draw in people from all backgrounds across the entire UK.”
Maritime UK is launching Diversity in Maritime in direct response to the flagship strategy’s recommendations, alongside the establishment of the new Maritime Skills Commission. Taken together, they will ensure the sector has a continuous pipeline of highly skilled, diverse people across its shipping, ports, services, engineering and leisure marine industries. The UK government has provided £730,000 to boost diversity, wellbeing and skills in maritime.
Maritime UK has published a new resource ‘HR Guidance for Recruiters’ as part of the programme offering bespoke guidance for unbiased recruitment. Furthermore, a series of webinars to support individual professional development across the sector have also been launched, including sessions on unconscious bias, how to excel on camera when working from home and masterclasses on public speaking.
Speaking about the launch of the programme, Maritime Minister Kelly Tolhurst said: “By launching these new diversity networks, we are helping unlock the true potential of our workforce. With many more initiatives to come, I’m confident the industry will continue to develop a positive inclusive working culture as the Women in Maritime programme goes from strength to strength.”