According to the latest figures from the ONS data, the number of people on long-term sicknesses reached a record high of 2.5 million in July 2022.

The UK has seen almost 400,000 leave the job market since early 2020 due to long-term health issues and this follows the shocking numbers of 50-64-year-olds which are the largest group of losses to the workforce.

These numbers have also highlighted an increase in students who are also classified as economically inactive bringing the total number of students up to 2.4 million, with long-term sickness at almost 2.3m and temporarily sick at almost 200,000. These figures are up to July 2022 and we would expect to see temporary sickness and absence rise again in the winter months.

Axiom Personnel are experts in placing staff in the manufacturing sector, which employs around 1.8 million in its UK workforce. The big issue the industry faces is the lack of skilled workers which has an impact on the ability to keep up with manufacturing orders and reduces productivity. This only adds to the Bank of England’s current headaches as it continues to place pressures on inflation.

We are currently experiencing unemployment rates at their lowest since 1974, and those were very dark days literally with action taken by the miners and power outages and the country was put onto a 3-day working week to save power.

Our teams at Axiom are specialists in the manufacturing, logistics and warehousing sectors and are working closely with our clients to place temporary and permanent staff in London and Essex on a daily basis.

If you are looking for a team of recruiters who understand your local issues, we are here to help. Call one of us today.