The UK currently has approximately 10 million people aged between 16-64 who are currently not working and of those almost 9 million of them are not classified as unemployed as they are not currently looking for work or available to start a job.

Of these economically inactive, 2.7 million are students under 25 years old and the majority of them are not looking for work or don’t want to work, sadly almost a quarter of a million are registered as ‘sick’ and nearly 100,000 are carers.

This accounts for the younger who are out of work, at the other end of the scale are the over 50’s with 3.5 million out of the job market, either due to illness, which accounts for 1.3 million and those who have retired early (before 65) at 1.2 million and almost none of these are looking to get back into the workplace.

So of those who are looking for work and do want to get back into the workplace, what are the main barriers to them getting back into jobs?

The most common obstacles to getting those who are interested in finding a job, back to work, are sickness and caring responsibilities, mainly those looking after younger children and the cost of childcare being the largest barrier.

Some of the things employers can do to encourage applications are:

1. Providing free training and upskilling applicants.
2. Offering flexible working.
3. Offering trial days and work experience to younger applicants.
4. Work with candidates to help build confidence if there has been a longer period of unemployment with staggered entry into the workplace.
5. Provide mentors in the workplace to support new members of the team.

If you are looking for a recruitment partner with a recruitment agency that supports candidates in the workforce, call us today for an initial consultation to find out how we work.