All-male shortlists return to the City after diversity backlash
City businesses are restoring all-male recruitment shortlists amid a growing corporate backlash against diversity policies.
Senior executives and board-level headhunters have said they are no longer seeking to exclude men when hiring for top roles, as they seek to capitalise on the shifting political climate on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
It marks a considerable turnaround for businesses that have spent years urging headhunters to only approach female candidates, as they have been under pressure to have at least one woman occupying a top-four board position.
A number of companies had also banned all-male shortlists.
However, an executive at a FTSE 100 company said that excluding male candidates for jobs was 'insulting to women and men' and 'silliness all round'.
He said: 'Companies shouldn't be afraid of having all-female or all-male shortlists. It depends on the job, the location and the company. Occupational segregation is a fact of life.
'I'd suggest in 2025, if you're artificially having to introduce gender balance, then the problem is bigger than your shortlisting approach'.
A City recruiter who specialises in board-level moves said that there was now a 'far greater hesitancy to have all-female shortlists in the UK for both executive and non-executive roles'.
They said: 'All-male shortlists are back, I am afraid. In the current, jumpy environment, all-female shortlists will be seen as too risky.'
It comes after companies around the world have rolled back their DEI programmes in response to a crackdown by Donald Trump.
The FTSE chief said he expected UK businesses to 'quietly' return to accepting male-only shortlists, particularly if they have operations in America.
Accounting giant PwC is among City companies to have banned all-male shortlists for executive positions in recent years, while Aviva has said that all senior white male recruits must be approved by Amanda Blanc, the chief executive.
Employment experts have said in the past that all-women shortlists are unlawful unless companies can demonstrate that there are no men of equal merit for the job.
Political parties can, however, reserve all places for one sex on a shortlist if it will help to reduce unequal representation.
A biography of Angela Rayner by Lord Ashcroft, the Tory peer and author, recalled her criticising the all-women shortlist system in 2019 during a talk at Oldham Sixth Form College.
Ms Rayner is said to have told students: 'When I was going to be a Member of Parliament, I didn't want to stand in an all-women shortlist. I wanted to stand on an open list.
'I'm as good as any bloke and I've proved that since ... I should have been selected years before I was selected. I had to get selected on an all-women shortlist.'
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