When Shevaun Haviland meets business leaders, which she does all the time as director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), there are two hot topics she says crop up within five minutes.
Whatever the size of the business, wherever it is based or whatever it does, they say the same thing: they can’t find the people with the skills they need, or are losing the ones they have through sickness – without fail.
Haviland’s astonishing comments come with the publication today of a report, Long Term Sickness Blighting UK Economy.
What’s even more devastating is that sickness absenteeism is growing sharply – research suggests more than 300,000 people are leaving the workforce each year because of ill-health. It’s well-rehearsed that the UK suffers from one of the sickest workforces in the world.
Of the 9m people deemed ‘economically inactive’, almost 2.8m of them are out of work because of long-term sickness.
This is 7 per cent of the UK workforce, double the rate of Japan, which is just 3.5 per cent. What a terrible waste of talent, and a devastating indictment of the health of Britain’s workforce.
Sicknote Britain: Research suggests more than 300,000 people are leaving the workforce each year because of ill-health
It’s terrible for the individuals concerned but also for the wealth of the nation: the Government’s own sums suggest the lost economic output from this inactivity is a minimum of £130billion – and that’s not including welfare payments.
There are obvious reasons why the UK is sicker than comparable European countries: high levels of obesity, diabetes and other long-term illnesses which can be attributed to poor diets and lifestyle.
There are also good reasons explaining why the workforce lacks the right skills: a complex apprenticeship levy and lack of further education.
Yet Haviland says private businesses are champing at the bit to do more to help their workers but are stymied by the costs and complexity of the working environment.
Top of the BCC’s wish-list for action are tax breaks for health services that businesses provide workers, reforms to the ‘fit-note’ system to make it easier for employers and employees to manage the return to work, and incentives for owners of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) to access mental health training.
Finally, the BCC proposes a wage subsidy scheme to help young people with long-term health problems get back to work.
It’s a no-brainer that businesses should be given more generous tax breaks to provide health cover.
At present the insurance premium tax, which has doubled to 12 per cent since 2015, is one of the highest in Europe.
Reducing it to allow more SMEs to provide health cover – and improving the non-taxable benefit for occupational health schemes – could cut the days lost to sickness.
Helping businesses provide greater health cover is another no-brainer – it relieves pressure on the NHS while boosting the wellness industry, which means more doctors and nurses can be trained.
If health improves, so does productivity and therefore growth. Or so it should.
Rachel Reeves claims to want the UK to be the fastest-growing country in the G7. That means getting to an 80 per cent employment rate or, put another way, getting a minimum of 1.5m more people back into work.
With the right incentives, they are ready and waiting.
Yet, perversely, all the measures carried out by the Chancellor to date are making it more difficult for businesses to hire and train workers.
It’s hard to work out whether she understands this, or whether her high-tax ideology is so deep-rooted that it trumps common sense.
Either way, Reeves should invite Haviland, who used to work on business partnerships in the Cabinet Office at No 10, next door for tea at No 11 if she is serious in her ambition.
On the crest of a wave
Saga is back in profit with cruise bookings from its over-50s travellers for next year already in the bag.
Is this because canny pensioners are making sure they spend their money before Reeves hikes their taxes or gets rid of the triple lock?
Or are they more adventurous? Who knows, but younger travellers are more cautious, says On the Beach, where shares took a shower after a profit warning.
Bookings are down because more youngsters are waiting until the last minute. They are wise to do so.
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