Geography: the Unseen Barrier for Young People

How where you grow up can influence access to opportunity, and simple steps employers can take to broaden talent pools.  

Matchtech's Lucy Pope sits down with Sonya Christensen, Programmes and Partnerships Manager at The Talent Tap, to talk geography, opportunity and what employers can actually do about it.  

Lucy Pope leads ESG at Matchtech. For the past three years, Matchtech have been working closely with The Talent Tap, a social mobility charity with a clear and urgent mission: to ensure where a young person grows up doesn't determine where they end up. She caught up with Sonya Christensen to get into the detail of why regional talent matters, what's really going on for young people outside the major cities, and what organisations can do differently.  

Lucy: Let's start at the beginning. What does The Talent Tap do, and what problem are you trying to solve? 

Sonya: At its simplest, we exist because opportunity in the UK isn’t equal and a big part of that is geography. 

Where a young person grows up shapes what they can see, who they meet, and what feels possible. 

We work with young people from coastal, rural and low-opportunity areas, providing long-term support from sixth form through to early employment. That includes them taking part in application and recruitment processes, in-person work experience in major cities, with travel, accommodation and living costs covered, mock interviews and assessment centres and an active alumni network. 

Lucy: You talk about geography as the root issue. Can you help people really understand what that means in practice?  

Sonya: I think the easiest way to see it is to look at the data. The Sutton Trust's Opportunity Index has been tracking this for 25 years across 10 million people. Forty-two of the top 50 areas for opportunity in the UK are in London and that tells you everything. Young people whose parents are low earners represent only 1 in 9 professionals in the workplace (despite making up a third of the workforce), they are 32% less likely to secure a graduate role than their peers, and when they do enter the workforce, they earn on average £6,300 less annually doing the same job.  

Professional opportunities are concentrated in the major cities. And for young people in coastal towns or rural communities, the places that barely register on a map of where the jobs are, accessing those opportunities requires travelling long distances, paying upfront and navigating environments they've never set foot in. Some young people get opportunity because of their postcode, whilst others are being asked to fund their way to the starting line, with no guarantee of an outcome.  

Lucy: You gave a comparison during our webinar that really stuck with me. Bethnal Green in London versus the Isle of Wight. Can you walk us through that?  

Sonya: Yes, and I think it's such a powerful illustration because it's not simply about deprivation. In Bethnal Green, 43.4% of young people are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average of 25%. But outcomes for the young people who live here improve over time because opportunity is nearby - universities, employers and professional networks. Nearly a third complete a degree by age 22 and almost one in five reach the top 20% of earners by age 28.  

The Isle of Wight scores far lower on the opportunity index, not because deprivation is higher (it’s actually a lot lower), but because geography means there's nowhere nearby to turn for opportunity. With no large employers on the doorstep and no networks to tap into, young people are forced to either self-fund, move away or go without. And when opportunity is that distant, disadvantage only deepens over time.

Lucy: From our perspective at Matchtech, working with The Talent Tap has really opened our eyes to how we think about geographic talent attraction, not just as social good, but as a genuine business strategy to unlock talent pools. Do you find that resonates with employers you work with?  

Sonya: Organisations are missing out on exceptional talent, not because it isn’t there, but because they’re recruiting from the same places, in the same ways. 

Expanding your geographic reach isn’t just socially impactful, it’s a smarter talent strategy. 

The young people we work with are resourceful and highly motivated. Many have had to navigate more barriers before their first interview than others will face in their entire early careers. 

If your hiring processes prioritise proximity or the “right” background, then you’re likely filtering out exactly the kind of talent you want to hire.

Lucy: What should employers do differently, particularly when looking for early talent? If someone reads this and thinks, ‘right, we want to act on this,’ where do they start?  

Sonya: Start with the barriers. Always cover upfront costs like travel, accommodation and living expenses. For many of the young people we work with, that’s the difference between being able to take up an opportunity or not. Equally important is to make that support visible, most young people won’t feel comfortable asking for it. 

If you only recruit in major cities, you’ll only reach those that are already there. Running outreach, insight sessions or mock recruitment in coastal, rural and low-opportunity areas shifts that dynamic completely. 

Consider designing roles with access in mind. Paying in arrears, rigid start dates, and location constraints all quietly exclude people. Small changes, like flexibility, regional options, or upfront support can make a significant difference. 

It’s also important to measure impact as well as hires. Consistently track who accesses opportunities, who progresses and who stays then use this data to help you understand where barriers remain and where investment has the greatest return.  

And finally, think long-term. One-off interventions don’t build pipelines. Consistent engagement over time does.

Lucy: And once someone’s in the business from a geographic hotspot or lower socioeconomic background, what does good support look like? 

Sonya: Having someone in the business they can go to who isn't their line manager. A mentor, a sounding board, someone they go to and say, ‘I don't know how to navigate this,’ without it feeling like a risk. That structure matters enormously in early careers. And the best thing about the way we work here at The Talent Tap is that our young people can always come back to us, they've always got someone to contact who understands their journey and can help to point them in the right direction.

Lucy: Finally, for any organisations interested in working with The Talent Tap, what does that look like? 

Sonya: We’re flexible in how we work with partners. Some start small offering work experience placements, supporting interviews for our programme, or getting involved in CV workshops or mock recruitment sessions. Others build long-term pipelines through our programmes, embedding social mobility into their early talent strategy.

What matters most isn’t scale at the start, it’s consistency. One meaningful intervention, delivered well over time, has far more impact than multiple one-off activities. That’s how you build a sustainable, high-quality talent pipelines. 

Lucy: Sonya, thank you. This is a conversation that genuinely needs to be had more loudly and more often.  

Sonya: Thank you for having it. Talent really is everywhere, opportunity isn’t. We need more organisations willing to bridge that gap. 

Want to get involved? 

The Talent Tap works with organisations across a range of partnership options. To find out more or start a conversation, get in touch with Matchtech's ESG lead Lucy Pope, or contact The Talent Tap directly.