Employers are being asked to spend £6 billion a year on staff health support to tackle Britain’s growing worklessness. In a Government-commissioned review ahead of the Budget, Charlie Mayfield, former chair of John Lewis and leader of the Keep Britain Working review, says businesses must play a central role in halting the rise in ill health, which is pushing millions out of work.
Mayfield called for a step change in occupational health to reduce the number of people who fall out of employment each year. Ministers are increasingly concerned by the sharp rise in working-age adults leaving the labour market due to health conditions, with young adults driving much of the increase.
About one in five working-age people — more than nine million — are now “economically inactive”, meaning they are neither in a job nor looking for one. For almost three million, long-term sickness is the main reason, the highest level on record.
The review estimates the overall cost of this “quiet but urgent crisis” at up to £85bn a year, through lost output, higher welfare spending and extra pressure on the NHS. Its focus, however, is on prevention and retention: keeping people in work through better workplace support. If adopted across the workforce, the recommendations could generate benefits of up to £18bn a year for the national economy and public finances.
The Government says more than 60 employers, including British Airways, Nando’s and Tesco, will lead a three-year vanguard programme, working with regional mayors and small firms to test and scale stronger workplace health approaches.
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