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LIFESTYLE:
A quarter of British Asian students
say their families have a significant
influence on their choice of career
according to research carried out
on behalf of the Tesco Asian Network
- a group inside Tesco that aims
to help Tesco’s British Asian
employees develop their careers
within the company and attract more
people of British Asian ethnicity
to join the business.
In
a poll carried out on university
campuses across the UK, 24% of British
Asian students said their families
have a significant influence on
their choice of career. This is
much higher than for White British
people where only 9% said their
families had a significant influence
on their choice of career.
The
responses of the British Asian students
ranged from those who went as far
as to put their families’ wishes
ahead of their own (3%) and going
with the career their parents’
suggested (3%), to those who said
their family’s views strongly
influenced their decision (18%).
Only
32% of British Asian graduates said
their families had had no influence
on their choice of career at all
– compared to almost half (47%)
of the White British control group.
Faisal
Sheikh, a programme manager at Tesco.com
and a spokesperson for the Tesco
Asian Network said: “With families
having such a significant influence
on Asian Graduates career choice,
Tesco realises the importance of
getting this message out to them.
As a result, the Asian Network is
working on a number of promotional
activities in 2009 aimed not only
at Graduates, but at their parents
as well. We’re developing a
careers brochure for graduate jobs
aimed at parents and grandparents.
Members of the Asian Network will
attend graduate careers fairs to
talk to parents as well as students.”
When
Tesco asked British Asian parents
and grandparents what careers they
would prefer their children to go
into, most popular were traditional
careers such as Medicine (24%),
Law (19%), and Accountancy (14%).
Retail did not feature in their
thinking. (see CHART 1).
Tesco
is a FTSE 20 company, and the largest
private sector employer in the UK.
Although the stores are the public
side of the business, Tesco employs
lawyers, accountants, IT and professionals,
as well as pharmacists, architects
and opticians.
Faisal
Sheikh, continued: “We know
many Asian students aren’t
aware of the potential benefits
of a career in Retail. For instance,
most Asian graduates think they
could earn between £50,000
and £75,000 a year after 10
or 15 years with Tesco. But senior
managers who have been with us that
long can take home £75,000
to £100,000. This research
suggests parents and grandparents
have some of the same misconceptions.
Our concern is that they remember
retailing from twenty years ago,
which is very different to retailing
today.
“We
employ hundreds of thousands of
people, working in almost every
profession you can think of –
including some of those traditional
careers like law and accountancy
that British Asian parents are keener
to see their children and grandchildren
go into. Not only is there the opportunity
to pursue these traditional careers
but - due to the size and diversity
of a company like Tesco - people
are also able to change career if
they feel they want a different
experience. Many of the more traditional
firms just can’t offer that.”
There
are approximately 23,500 British
Asians working for Tesco in the
UK, out of a total of 286,392 employees
- 8.2% of the national workforce.
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