Intervention is key, says PwC as 4.4m more workers set to leave labour market

This equates to 4.4m workers who are on the brink of leaving the labour market. Younger workers – aged 18-24 – are particularly at risk, says PwC’s new report published yesterday.

The factors behind the rise in economic inactivity are “various and complex”, it says and often there is no “one single reason”. Over a third of the 4,000+ people interviewed for the study cited unfulfilling work, while just under a third (32 per cent) said that mental health drove them out of work and 10 per cent cited caring responsibilities.

Photograph: iStock

Better mechanisms to identify those at risk early are key and support for employees once they are at risk, argues the report, which found that although most (83 per cent) of employers it approached offer wellbeing support, many employees are reluctant to ask for it. Workers cite feeling “too embarrassed” to ask for help and nearly half (45 per cent) who did speak to their employer before leaving were offered no support.

Marco Amitrano, PwC Senior Partner, writing in the report’s foreword said: “Many say that the right interventions at the right time could have made all the difference. But once they are out of work, confidence wanes and a short period too often becomes an indefinite one.”

Brian Dow, CEO, Mental Health UK commented: “Secure employment is a pillar of good mental health and many people experiencing mental illness can thrive at work, providing the right support is in place.”

It comes as a separate report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) found “compelling evidence” that mental health has worsened since the pandemic.

Over half, or 55 per cent of the post-pandemic rise in disability benefits can be accounted for by claims primarily for mental health, according to the IFS, with an increase in ‘deaths of despair’, and more people in contact with NHS mental health services.

Read PwC's report Turning the Tide on economic inactivity here

Read the IFS report the role of changing health in rising health-related benefit claims here