Read: Recruiters more prone to nepotism during pandemic, UK survey finds

Companies have been recruiting graduates from a smaller pool of personal connections during the pandemic, shutting out young people from less privileged backgrounds, a survey shows.

More than half (57%) of recruiters said they had become more reliant on personal networks and word-of-mouth recommendations, while more than a quarter (28%) said they were more likely to hire someone they already knew because they saw them as a safer bet in uncertain times.

During the pandemic, nearly two-thirds (63%) of recruiters have turned to online networks on platforms such as LinkedIn to compensate for the absence of in-person contact, making these a new frontier for nepotism, the study suggests.

Read the full story in The Guardian.

Open recruitment practices is one of the Levelling Up Goals launched to set out clear objectives for the UK's Levelling Up challenge.