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I've no idea how much it holds people back but my experience of working in film/TV/media wanker land in London's famous London has been of a lot of public school boys/girls assuming you're thick as pig shit because you're northern. I know a lot of people who have 'poshed up' their accent too, unfortunately you seem to get away with being a stiff idiot as long as the nonsense comes out eloquently.
Gewürzt-
I think professions where the assessment of labour quality has a subjective and/or uncertainty element are more prone to this type of nonsense where accent and connections play a big role. Also those professions with high ‘entry costs’ eg where the way to get a job is through first doing an unpaid apprenticeship or internship (which rules out people from poor backgrounds), and where the starting salary is low (as above, because you need daddy to subsidise you initially). That’s why you’ll never get the best talent in the economy choosing to become barristers, and also why barristers basically all come from the same hugely privileged background.
kerplaagh
Did any of you guys watch Fiona Hill testify in the US impeachment enquiry?
She's from County Durham originally and has a thick as pig shit Northern accent. She spoke quite eloquently about how she feels that in the UK, people with a background like hers (coal mining family) and with a thick regional accent don't get the same opportunities that are on offer in the USA. Basically called out the UK establishment for being an accent snob.
I think she's probably right.
I used to know a chap who grew up in a deprived setting in Merseyside who eventually went on to own a bank. He had voice coaching lessons when he was in his 20s because he noticed that people in London didn't take him seriously in interviews. He reckoned the difference in treatment was immediate as soon as he started to lose the Scouse twang.
Its a sad state of affairs.