The House of Lords economic affairs committee has issued a report stating that the exodus of more than half a million people from the British workforce since the pandemic is putting the UK economy at risk of weaker growth and higher inflation. The report also said that the sharp rise in economic inactivity – when working-age adults are neither in employment nor looking for a job – since the onset of the health emergency was posing “serious challenges” to the economy. Earlier retirement among 50 to 64-year-olds seems to be the biggest contributor to a rise in economic inactivity of 565,000 since the start of the pandemic.
Rising sickness rates among working-age adults, as well as changes in the structure of migration after Brexit and an aging UK population, were also key drivers behind the rise of the “missing” workforce.
According to the report “Where have all the workers gone?” workforce shortages exacerbated by the loss of these individuals from the labor market stands to damage economic growth in the near term while also reducing tax revenues available to finance public services.
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Source: fpcfreshtalkdaily.co.uk
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