By Danielle Boxall, media campaign manager
Fancy a change of career or looking for new opportunities? Why not join the public sector?
According to the Office for National Statistics' recent employment figures, it’s the only jobs market seeing any growth, and as our Town Hall Rich List confirms, there are plenty of plump pay packets and cushy careers to go around. Scour the list of council staff remunerated over £100,000 and you’ll see official titles like ‘Strategic director for place’ (huh?), ‘Director of street scene, leisure & tech services’ (head of IT at the leisure centre?) and ‘Corporate Director: Community Well-being and Environment’ (me neither!).
But some of the biggest non-jobs are in the social justice industry. There are now taxpayer-funded diversity, inclusion and equality units packed into every corner of the state.
These jobs are such a common occurrence there are even dedicated recruitment websites such as ‘Diversity and Inclusion Leaders’ and ‘D and I Jobs’. Increasingly the advertised roles are in the public sector. With outsourced unconscious bias training now banned in the civil service, no doubt a wave of hiring in these roles will make up for the loss.
Don’t believe us? Here’s some of the most pointless woke jobs recently advertised - and paid for by the taxpayer.
1. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Advisor at the Met Office
With the total reward package worth up to £51,508, the weather forecasting quango has recently been looking for an Equality Diversity & Inclusion Advisor. According to its job advert, the Met Office is not only “world leading in weather and climate forecasting but is a great place to work”.
I’m not entirely sure what equality, diversity and inclusion has to do with whether or not it’ll rain on Tuesday. But the advert certainly makes you wonder, if it is already such a great place to work, why “the mainstreaming of equality, diversity and inclusion into all aspects of the Met Office” is really necessary?
2. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Project Support Assistant for South Wales Police
Unnecessary roles aren’t confined to Whitehall and the quangos in London, they’re found in every nook and cranny of the public sector. South Wales Police have recently been on the hunt for someone with an “ability to develop constructive relationships of trust with a diverse cross-section of individuals from both communities of place and interest” to join their Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team.
This isn’t the first time the force has put political priorities before policing. Last year, we sent a Freedom of Information request to the force asking about the cost of their EDI team. We found that from April 2019 to September 2020, the total cost of the diversity and inclusion team at the force was £143,078. That’s the cost of almost 7 full time bobbies, by the way.
3. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Manager - Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service
“Fire doesn’t discriminate and neither do we”. Multiple fire and rescue services have had this slogan emblazoned on their fire engines to take part in Pride parades. Ignoring the obvious unnecessary cost to the taxpayer of these rebrandings (West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service spent £300 wrapping a fire engine in a Pride flag covered in love hearts in 2017), it’s clear that many fire services are proud of their inclusivity.
So why does Cambridge Fire and Rescue require a manager for their dedicated diversity team? After all, they’ve used that same slogan themselves. Is a job dedicated to something they already claim to be hot on not clearly superfluous?
4. Equality, diversity and inclusion manager - University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
You may have seen the news that NHS medics have been told to sign off emails with their pronouns to avoid misgendering. It’s the latest in a long list of ultra-progressive diktats from senior NHS staff, like replacing words like ‘breastfeeding’ with ‘chestfeeding’.
Continuing this trend, the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust recently posted an advert for an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager to join them. We’re sure he/him/she/her/they/them will be vital to the hospital as it fights the coronavirus.
5. Equality and Diversity Advisor - Solihull council
Our Town Hall Rich List has shown the extent of the non-jobs in local authorities across the nation. Solihull council is no exception, as they’re currently looking for an Equality and Diversity Advisor to add to the Equalities team. This is despite council tax in the borough going up by 3.49 per cent to almost £1,500 for the average property this year.
According to the job listing, the council is “committed to being an inclusive and accessible council where equality, diversity and inclusion is everyone's responsibility”. That says it all - everyone is responsible, but ultimately the taxpayer picks up the tab.
These jobs are just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of woke initiatives, all funded by taxpayers whether we like it or not.
Take our Woke Whitehall quiz before it closes to see if you can work out what waste is true or false - some of the examples of waste are just as unbelievable.