Ex-John Lewis boss to work with West and South Yorkshire mayors to help people falling out of work
The former boss of John Lewis has begun working with the West and South Yorkshire mayors to help prevent people with ill health and disabilities slipping out of the workplace.
Sir Charlie Mayfield, who led the department store from 2007 to 2020, recently completed a Government-commissioned report on the subject, called Keep Britain Working.
It was designed to stem the tide of more and more people falling out of work due to ill health and disability.
“There are two things which are driving that, one is mental health amongst young people and the other is musculoskeletal issues in older people,” Sir Charlie said.
“I’m yet to meet an employer that’s not concerned about mental health amongst young people as an issue that they’re struggling with in the workplace.
“What’s at stake here is huge - one in five adults are not working in this country for reasons of ill health or disability, it’s absolutely enormous.
“If we are able to get even half of those people, the economy, in terms of growth, in terms of earning potential and just the life chances of people, would be hugely enhanced.”
The Government accepted all of Sir Charlie’s recommendations, including that of a new approach where responsibility for health at work is shared between employers, employees and health services rather than being left to the worker and the NHS.
“Typically, a lot of people think that the problems we face in the country, and particularly the labour market, are things for the Government to solve,” Sir Charlie told The Yorkshire Post.
“I’ve always taken the view, this is a reflection in part that I come from an employer background, that the Government has an important role to play, but what it really needs to do is figure out how to mobilise employers to start addressing some of these big issues.
“When you talk to employers and the mayoral combined authorities, they want to really be part of that.”
Both West and South Yorkshire have joined as vanguard mayoral combined authorities, to assist right at the start of the project.
This week, the former John Lewis boss has been in Leeds speaking to businesses and Mayor Tracy Brabin.
Sir Charlie wants the combined authority (WYCA) to help mobilise small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) “and turn that intent into practice”.
He also spoke to Asma Khanum, chief executive of Chatter Bug, a children’s speech and language therapy service, which has successfully tackled mental health challenges amongst its workforce.
She said: “For us as an organisation it isn't about people being unwilling to work, it's about people struggling to stay well in work.
“Time off can be necessary for some but on its own, it rarely solves the underlying problem.
“We need to create workplaces that people want to return to. Work provides purpose, and as an employer we want to actively support that.”
The scale of the challenge was highlighted by new figures from the Office for National Statistics yesterday, that revealed the unemployment rate lifting to its highest level since early 2021 and young people among the hardest hit.