LSE and Be the Business launch £2.3 million initiative to help SMEs tackle digital skills shortages by unlocking overlooked talent

A major £2.3 million initiative supported by JPMorganChase will help businesses tackle technology and data skills shortages by widening access to jobs for people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The initiative has been launched by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Be the Business (BTB).

The initiative, Reach (Research, Evidence & Approaches for Competitive Hiring), comes at a critical time for the UK economy. Despite rapid growth in the digital sector, employers continue to report significant difficulties recruiting people with the skills they need. According to the government’s most recent Employer Skills Survey, more than a quarter (27%) of all UK vacancies in 2024 were skill-shortage vacancies.¹ Government-commissioned research into the UK’s AI labour market, carried out in 2025, found that 97% of organisations surveyed reported at least one skills gap, with more than half (57%) citing a shortage of technical skills such as data science.²

At the same time, people from lower socio-economic backgrounds remain underrepresented in many highly skilled occupations, particularly within the technology sector, where just 9% of employees come from such backgrounds, compared with 29% in finance and 23% in law.³ Through a series of large-scale field trials, this initiative will examine how practical changes to recruitment processes can help businesses attract, recruit and retain talented candidates who may otherwise be overlooked.  In the final phase, successful approaches will be rolled out more widely across the small and medium enterprise (SME) community.

Led by Dr Grace Lordan at The Inclusion Initiative (TII) at LSE and delivered in partnership with SME productivity charity Be the Business (BTB), the 3.5-year project will work directly with UK SMEs to identify, test and scale recruitment practices that help businesses access a broader pool of talent while improving workplace inclusion. The project will focus on employers that depend heavily on technology and data skills, including both technology companies and businesses using digital tools as a core part of their operations.

The project will be delivered in three phases. In the first six months, researchers will work with employers, recruitment specialists and HR professionals to understand the barriers preventing wider participation in technology and data careers. Findings from this research will inform the design of recruitment interventions that could include skills-based assessments, anonymised screening processes, improved job descriptions and more structured approaches to evaluating candidates.

The second phase will involve a rigorous programme of randomised controlled trials with 120 SMEs across the UK. Half of participating businesses will adopt new inclusive hiring approaches, while the remaining firms will continue with their existing recruitment practices, enabling researchers to measure the effectiveness of different interventions in real-world settings. Throughout the trial, businesses will receive mentoring, peer-learning opportunities and specialist HR support to help them implement and embed new practices.

The partners aim to support a further 1,740 businesses to adopt proven recruitment practices through a network of mentors, ambassadors and business support organisations. The project will also produce a practical toolkit and evidence-based guidance for employers, alongside recommendations for policymakers working on skills development, economic growth and social mobility.

Professor Larry Kramer, President and Vice Chancellor of LSE, said:

"The UK cannot afford to leave talent on the sidelines. By combining rigorous research with practical support for employers, this project will help businesses access a wider pool of skilled people while creating new opportunities for individuals who have the ability to succeed but may not have had the chance to demonstrate it. We hope the lessons from this work will help shape recruitment practices and policy long into the future."

Dr Grace Lordan, Founding Director of The Inclusion Initiative at LSE and project lead, said:

"Many employers want to recruit more effectively but lack clear evidence about what works in practice. Through this project, we will generate robust evidence on how SMEs can widen access to jobs to get the best candidate for the job without adding unnecessary complexity or cost. Our goal is to identify recruitment methods that are both effective for business and capable of improving social mobility through increasing the likelihood of merit-based hiring."

Anthony Impey, Chief Executive of Be the Business, said:

“Small business leaders repeatedly tell me that finding people with the right skills is their biggest challenge. Getting recruitment right can determine whether a business grows or stands still, yet traditional processes can overlook talented candidates who have a great deal to offer. That is why our partnership with the London School of Economics matters: together, we will develop practical, affordable approaches that help SMEs widen their search and recruit the best people for their teams.”

Hang Ho, Head of International Philanthropy at JPMorganChase, said:

“At JPMorganChase, we believe talent can be found everywhere, but often opportunity is not. We are delighted to support LSE and Be the Business to further our support for small and medium-sized businesses, and help them develop more effective recruitment approaches. Together, we’re putting practical tools in the hands of SMEs while widening access to careers for people with the right skills. We hope the insights and results from this initiative will drive long-term change—improving access to skills and talent for both job seekers and SMEs, which is vital to the UK’s competitiveness and growth agenda.”

Jacqui Smith, Minister for Skills, said:

"No young person should have their life chances determined by their postcode. Partnerships like this are exactly what is needed to help businesses uncover brilliant talent and train up the next generation of technology and data leaders. It comes alongside our £2.5 billion investment to get almost one million young people into work, because everyone deserves the chance to get on, no matter where they start."

The project will measure outcomes including job application rates, interview progression, hiring decisions, retention and employer perceptions of employee performance. By the end of the programme, the partners hope to demonstrate practical, scalable ways for SMEs to meet their skills needs while opening pathways into high-quality technology and data careers for people from all backgrounds.

References

1. Employer Skills Survey 2024, Department for Education. Fieldwork carried out in 2024; published 2025.

2. AI Labour Market Survey 2025, Gardiner & Theobald for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Fieldwork carried out in 2025; published February 2026.

3. Building a Future Tech Sector That Works for Everyone: call for evidence findings, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Published July 2026