At Prosper, our purpose has been to bring people together around the big challenges facing Scotland’s economy to consider the roles that business, government and civic society can each play in ‘solving the problems of people and the planet profitably’.
Good health is important to Scotland’s economic prosperity, with access to employment one determinant of our wellbeing. Levels of engagement in work and the workforce are also a measure of economic efficiency.
The more people that want or are able to work, the closer we are to achieving our collective economic potential and to achieving sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
And yet, one in four of Scotland’s working aged population is currently economically inactive, a figure that has been rising and an estimated 185.6m working days annually are lost to sickness or injury in the UK.
Our pioneering approach brought employers, third sector organisations and government together to consider this issue.
Our Healthy Working People report highlights good employer practice. However, there is also a role for governments to support employers to manage ill-health at
work and in moving people from economic inactivity into the workforce.
In response to this complex challenge, we make 15 actionable recommendations for employers and the government.
Employers should embrace flexible working, one of the biggest barriers to retention and recruitment, and assess their abilities to comply with legislation on mental and physical safety at work.
Scottish and UK government should incentivise investment in occupational health, invest in mental health services and deliver the recommendations of the Buckland Review of Autism Employment.
This is likely to be one of the key challenges we face to achieving long-term sustainable growth and we look forward to working with employers and government to develop these ideas and put them into practice.
In association with Prosper www.prosper.scot