E95: The Lost Generation

There were already plenty of people worried about what was going to happen to their jobs and their careers in the sports business, as new technology and the data era made them question the relevance of their skills in today’s talent marketplace. Covid has amplified that fear at every level, from college leavers aspiring to break in to the industry, through first and second jobbers right up to the C-suite.All this at a time when the diversity of that talent pool looks so narrowly defined, by gender, ethnicity, age and mindset. So in today’s podcast I talk to Amanda Fone, founder and CEO of F1 recruitment, who brings 35 years of experience to these questions. In addition to running F1, Amanda is the co founder of the BAME2020 diversity programme, which launched in 2016 as a way of raising the issue of inclusion, diversity and social mobility within the sports sector. We talk about white fragility, office culture and the very potential that covid will create a lost generation of sports business talent.Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 500 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify and every podcast app. If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series and live events, you can reach us via the website.