Dear World
WORK is essential for ALL of us as it gives us PURPOSE.
The following report card highlights the work situation in the UK over the past few years.
Simple Living Global will be presenting at the UK’s leading Workplace Health and Wellbeing event 10th – 11th March 2026 at the NEC, Birmingham.
2026
Unemployment RISING – 4 year HIGH
Jobless Rate HIGHEST
since 2016 ➠ with pandemic era stripped out
Biggest Fall ➠ WORSE than Expected
Number receiving Unemployment Benefit also INCREASED
1.696 MILLION
Young workers are particularly struggling (1)
Consultant Recruitment – NHS at Crisis point
1 in 3 Consultant posts are vacant in parts of UK
4% only Actively looking for Work
12 months wait for Recruiting Managers to secure a candidate
£674 MILLION – cost on Locum Consultants
2022 – 2025
33,000 Consultant Jobs Advertised on NHS Jobs Website
25% in Psychiatry (2,3)
Salary Stacking gains traction among Gen Z and Alpha
- 70% feel Multiple Work streams essential for Financial Security
- 47% Freelance or Plan to
- 51% had a Side Hustle
- 72% started Freelancing before age 21
Gen Z’s greatest Fear
Not earning enough Money to live comfortably
44% report working Flexible Hours is Priority (4)
Workers aged 18 – 29
48% plan to move jobs in 2026
41% Actively looking for a new role
81% Salary Most Important Factor (5)
England
Dangerous Shortage of Medics threatens Patient Care
Exhausted Family Doctors Working Unsafe Hours
Decades of Chronic Underfunding
92% GP Practice Managers report lack Core Funding preventing from Hiring
Record Demand ➠ Aging Population
Increasingly Complex Conditions ➠ Unsustainable Workloads (6)
2025
70% aged 16 – 29 want to Work From Home
Gen Z Anxious and terrified of Working in Office with others
38% Dread Small Talk
30% Anxious about Phone Calls
42% Experience Anxiety to Interact with New People
60% Struggle to Work with Older People (7)
HR Professionals experiencing Growing Pressure
overstretched as Teams shrink and Responsibilities grow
61% HR professionals report
after time supporting others’ well-being ‘little energy’ for self
59% under MORE Emotional strain than last year
Top Emotional Pressures
42% Supporting Staff through Burnout and Well-Being concerns
40% Supporting Staff through managing constant change and uncertainty
36% Balancing Commercial demands with Employee needs (8)
Gen Z Drowning in Probation Period Anxiety
Double the rate of Psychological Distress in probation period
Job Paranoia crippling thousands of Employees
Cycle of Self-Doubt and Failure
56% Graduates not equipped or ready for Job market
98% young people dealing with BURNOUT symptoms (9)
Unemployment rates RISE to HIGHEST level in 4 years
2020 – Official jobless rate was last higher in height of Pandemic
HMRC report falling number of Workers on firms’ payrolls
1.8 MILLION now Unemployed
1 MILLION young people NOT in Education, Training or Employment (10)
Offshore North Sea Oil Workers Must Lose Weight or Face Losing Job
124kg
Maximum weight for clothed worker to carry by rescue helicopter Emergency
2,277 workers weighed OVER this limit (11)
54% Professionals experience workplace ‘culture rot’
Gradual decline of an organisation’s values and culture that lead to a Toxic or Dysfunctional Environment
Top Indicators
41% receive Limited Incentives or Rewards
36% Poor Collaboration across Company
23% Unclear or Broken Down Communication
81% Employers report Company-Wide Cost Cutting Measures
SIGNIFICANTLY weakened Workplace Culture
75% employees admitted leaving job due to Workplace Culture issues (12)
Children in Long-Term Workless Households
9 year HIGH
2024
Children Without a Parent in Work – Fastest INCREASE On Record
1.2 MILLION Children with Parents Jobless for over a year
Children of Workless Families
Twice likely to be in relative Poverty
4 times likely to go without Basic Goods and Services
Sickness Benefits system exploding
£100 MILLION by 2030 (13)
Saunas are the Latest Employee Benefit Trend
Headache for HR Teams | Robust Risk Assessment needed (14)
FREE Laptop or similar Device for Unemployed who lack Digital Skills
AND Tailored Training to Access Jobs and Online Services
Recruitment now almost all Online
Human touch is still very much needed (15)
Age Discrimination rife in the Workplace
New Office for National Statistics figures
Britain
Jobless Rate at the HIGHEST level for 4 years
50s and 60s
Insecurity | Lost confidence | Wasted experience | Undervalued
Depression
Financial strain after Redundancy –
Forced to take low paid or part-time Work (16)
Shift Work linked to INCREASED risk of Kidney Stones
1st study to Comprehensively Evaluate – 220,000 data analysed
Under Age 50
15% HIGHER risk including those who had Low Levels of Manual Labour
Potential Mediators Identified
Smoking | Sleep Duration | Sedentary Time | Body Mass Index | Fluid Intake (17,18)
Flexpectation
86% of Workers Demand Flexible Hours
4 days a week
93% would take action if no longer allowed to work Remote or Hybrid
44% reject work that does not offer flexible hours
51% schedule personal appointments in working hours
41% take hour daily to schedule personal appointments
72% Generation Z and Millennials interested in micro-shifting
working in short non-linear blocks in line with their energy, duties or productivity
44% partake in Coffee badging
going to office for a few hours to show their face then going home (19)
94% Gen Z’s face work-related micro-stresses
69% say stepping out to chat with shopkeeper could help lift their mood
Young professionals are constantly navigating low-level Tensions at Work
“Boss Breaks” – Local shops participating
to give young professionals Space to pause, reset, take a breath and get back into the day with a clearer head (20)
Hiring Qualified Candidates With Migraine
41% Board Level Executives very concerned
34% Senior Managers
24% Business Owners
60% think Migraine is just a ‘Bad Headache’
58% avoid disclosing their Migraines to Employers and Colleagues
due to concerns about not being taken seriously (21,22)
46% Workers worked or currently Working in Toxic Environment
Workplaces fuelled by
Bullying | Stress| Relentless Pressure | Favouritism
Managers identified as Leading Source of Toxic Behaviours
30% do not feel able to raise concerns
76% left at least 1 job due to a toxic culture
40% walked away from multiple roles same reason
89% believe Workplace Culture can be improved through
Leadership Behaviours ~ Communication ~ Training ~ Better Employee Protections (23)
Britain
67% Adults experience Sunday Anxiety
74% Age 18 – 24 experience Sunday Anxiety
Most Common Triggers
Work Stress
Lack of Sleep
Overwhelming To-Do Lists (24)
Brew-Crastination
1 in 10 CANNOT FOCUS more than 5 minutes
Biggest Productivity Killers
27% Procrastinate MULTIPLE times an hour
Gen Z worst — average attention span 19 minutes
52% Social Media Doom-Scrolling
online scrolling wasting time
32% idling while making Tea
preventing getting work done (25)
Britain
workers taken 2 Working Weeks OFF SICK in the past year
HIGHEST LEVEL in 15 years
RISE in Long-Term Health Conditions
Ageing Workforce | Mental Health issues | Significant Stress
Contributes to Falling Productivity and a Widening Productivity Gap
8.7 MILLION WORKING AGE PEOPLE HAVE DISABILITIES
£400 MILLION WEEKLY COST TO THE UK ECONOMY (26)
50% Adult Workers want input on how AI developed and used in Workplace
51% Public concerned about impact of AI and new technologies on their Jobs
62% Workers aged 25 – 34 especially worried about impact of AI on their jobs
Leaving Employees in the dark fuels Negative Speculation
Have leaders using Artificial Intelligence
This visibility bridges the Trust gap and turns uncertainty into Inclusion (27)
During Summer Months
61% of Workers report DECREASED PRODUCTIVITY
30% Losing 30–60 minutes productive work time each day
- Feeling tired
- Uncomfortable Office temperatures
- Struggle to Focus
- Dehydrated
- Headaches
- Sweating
- Lack of ventilation (28)
Over-Medicalising Every Day Life Events
Growing Trend Signing People Off Work with Anxiety and Depression
Welfare Claims linked to Mental Health CONTINUE to RISE
would benefit from social contact and routine rather than isolation
3,000 people a day signed off
no longer have to look for work (29)
639,000 Graduates are Claiming Benefits
849,000 without Qualifications receiving Universal Credit
26% finished Academic Career with top grade GCSEs
HIGHEST proportion of Universal Credit Claimants
Many leaving University without skills to get a Job
Face earning the Minimum Wage (30)
Campaigners target Councils calling for a 4 day week
One Local Authority has become Britain’s first to adopt the pattern permanently
Thousands of Private Sector Workers on Shorter Working Weeks and Same Pay (31,32)
64% Workers drink Alcohol for WORK–RELATED reasons
1 in 5 drink Alcohol to deal with Deadlines
£4 BILLION cost to Economy
Employee Absence due work–related drinking
Job Stress ➟ Pressures ➟ Anxiety
led Employees to drink MORE over past year (33)
Britain
Office for National Statistics forced to scrap key Employment data
because Gen Z are hard to get hold of (34)
Average Worker Mentally drained 4 hours into the day
Mondays most Difficult
70% Gen Z ‘underestimated’ how draining start of day can be
1 in 20 Struggle 1 hour after Starting Work
77% rely on Boosts to get through the day
Coffee ~ Fresh Air ~ Sweet Treat – First One Needed 9.03am (35)
UK Retirement currently Age 66
INCREASE in stages for those born after April 1960
Ageing population and proportionally fewer working–age people paying Treasury compared to number of older people drawing State Pension
“Right Now, we are spending more money to keep older people in worse health”
Professor Richard Faragher – Gerontologist, University of Brighton
“As long as someone’s health is up to it, working can help to give people a sense of Purpose”
Dr. Mark Cortnage – Public Health Researcher at Anglia Ruskin University (36)
Age 18 – 20
across the country being fast tracked into Train Driving Careers
to Increase number of drivers and improve service reliability
87% Cancellations made night before the service – due to driver shortages
48 – Current average age of Train Driver
30% of the workforce due to retire by 2029 (37)
31% workers clock off early during a heatwave
34% take extended lunch break during hot weather
1 in 10 likely to pull a sickie on hot days
56% find workplace IT stressfull
6.8 MILLION losing Sleep and Anxious outside work (38, 39)
Generation Z – Internet Obsessed and Job Shy
REFUSE to WORK for less than £40,000
Prime Minister warning ‘wasted generation’
Age 16 – 24
1 Million NOT in Education, Employment or Training
HIGHEST Level Since 2013
58% NEVER been in Paid Employment (40)
45% of Gen Z workers experience Generational divide at Work
32% of All workers have experienced Generational divide
31% report ‘culture barrier’ at their workplace
Age 16 – 34
42% reported feeling like ‘odd one out’ at Work due to their Age (41)
21% workers willing to undergo a medical procedure to “sever” work memories from their personal lives
47% Generation Z consider procedure if paid $500,000
Employees relating to characters on TV shows confirms how blurred lines between Work and Personal Life have become (42)
Blue Monday
Bosses given staff days off, gift vouchers, £1,000 interest free loans
3rd Monday of January considered most depressing day
37% INCREASE in Travel spending Blue Monday last year (43)
Working from Home is ‘NOT Proper Work’
Lord Stuart Rose – Ex–Asda Boss
Vacant Office Space
DOUBLE since Pandemic
25% Dry Cleaning Businesses shut down
350% RISE in Golf Games played during working week
Employers including Government Bodies
Battling to get staff back into Office
Public Sector
Productivity at lowest since 1997 (44)
Employees Un–motivated ALL Year round
NOT just Blue Monday
17% feel like going to work each day
22% Never feel inspired by their Job
96% Junior Managers NOT bursting with energy at work each day (45)
62% OF WORKERS FEEL BURNOUT
Concerned about being overworked
Age 18 – 34
65% felt employers were at risk of overworking them
35% take time off as a result of Stress
60% say Employers Prioritise Profits and Productivity over Well-Being (46)
Bosses reducing time spent working from home – WFH
Some large businesses calling workers 5 days a week in the Office
Others to cut hybrid working
Cannot cope with Remote Working and the Isolation and Distractions (47)
Luxury of working from home INCREASINGLY viewed as a right since lockdowns
This New Year is shaping up to be tougher than usual for UK workers
Many face end of post-pandemic hybrid working
28% Working Adults – Hybrid working standard pattern (48)
2024
60% workers who call in sick during festive season put on a fake voice
29% plan to use Christmas parties as top excuse for faking illness
27% say staying out too late celebrating is the reason
25% blame festive Burnout from too much socialising
38% spend their fake sick days Sleeping
27% use sick time to be with friends and family (49)
UK IN MIDST OF A SLEEP CRISIS
9 in 10 experiencing Sleep problems
14 MILLION – have an UNDIAGNOSED Sleep disorder
1 in 6 suffer from reduced work following poor night’s sleep
75% workers report cause of sleep
workload, job security, out of hours messages and emails
48% engage in HIGH RISK behaviours when unable to Sleep (50)
Gen Z and Millennials
missing one day of work every single week
Under 30s report lower productivity at work
Struggling with –
- Mental Health challenges
- Burnout
- Stress
- Insomnia
- Obesity
Unable to work for 50 days a year
£138 BILLION COST TO ECONOMY
Younger people
224% more likely to suffer Depression than colleagues over 50 (51)
Time spent standing – HIGHER Orthostatic Circulatory Disease risk
Standing for too long will not offset a sedentary lifestyle (52, 53)
£11 BILLION COST A YEAR – Women Missing Work
Painful Periods
Endometriosis
Fibroids
Ovarian Cysts
60,000 women unable to work due Menopause Symptoms
£1.5 BILLION annual cost
Unemployment due to menopause symptoms
Hot flushes | Brain fog | Difficulty sleeping | Muscle Pains (54)
Britain
SHARP RISE Health-related Benefit Claims since pandemic
2023 – 2024
£48 BILLION ➠ Working Aged Adults Health-Related Benefits (55)
70% Employees suffer from Work–Related Stress
Below Senior Management Level
42% of ALL Employees find work in general Stressful
23% struggle with long or inflexible working hours
21% Blame the Bosses
20% Blame Workplace Culture
19% Blame Work Colleagues
Employees find Stressful
Work in General
39% of Women – 35% Men
Workload
38% of Women – 31% Men
Age 45 – 54
80% of Women find one or more aspects of work life Stressfull
75% of Men
TIRED OR LACK OF SLEEP
BIGGEST STRESS TRIGGER FOR ALL UK WORKERS (56)
Hangovers have a major effect on UK workforce
89,000 a day turning up to work hungover
£1.4 BILLION a year
Cost to Economy of Hangover-Related Absenteeism (57)
ONLY 17% Civil Servants turn up to Office each day
Public Sector
48% of ALL Staff work partially from Home
5% LESS Productive than Before Pandemic
Private Sector
40% of ALL Staff work partially from Home
10,000 IT workers’ recent study
Productivity DECREASED 8% – 19% when staff Worked from Home (58)
Caring Responsibilities
51% Employees report Career negatively impacted
Many use their sick days to look after Family
68% want more support from Employer
Age 25 – 44
40% say Career suffered caring for Parents, Grandparents, Siblings or Children
35% lost Sleep
due to Anxiety or Stress about a Family Member’s Health
Age 35 – 44
44% lost Sleep (59)
FOMO – key risk factor for Mental Health and Burnout at work
‘Dark side’ of digital working
FOMO effect felt in workplace
Employees worried about missing out on Information and Overloaded by it (60)
‘TANGRY’ – Tired and Angry
49% over-reacting to minor issues
43% continually complaining
42% inpatient
40% show no interest in chatting
36% throw their phones down
35% struggle to concentrate at work
30% upset and crying at the tiniest thing
30% curse about everything
29% snap at other people
28% eat junk food to feel better (61)
4 in 5 Tradespeople – Mental Health issues due to Job
Bricklayers and Joiners have HIGHEST Mental Health problems
Age 35 – 44 facing Mental Health issues most often
88% not comfortable talking about Mental Health (62)
POOR MENTAL HEALTH RISK
1.5 MILLION CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
700,000 injuries already caused
75% continue to work in a dangerous situation despite risk
27% took time off work in last year due poor Mental Health
18 MILLION WORKING DAYS LOST FOR WHOLE UK ECONOMY
Mental Health issues BIGGEST cause of lost workdays
ABSENT CONSTRUCTION WORKERS GIVE DIFFERENT REASON FOR TIME OFF IF IT IS RELATED TO MENTAL HEALTH (63)
Working–Age Health Crisis
20% Work–Limited condition
Significant Burden of Ill–Health
Chronic Pain
Type 2 Diabetes
Mental Health Problems
Age 18 – 24
35% report symptoms of Mental Illness
64% Adults are Overweight or Obese
INCREASE in cases of Type 2 Diabetes
RISES in under 40s particularly sharp (64)
NHS WORKER BURNOUT
47% looking for jobs elsewhere
50% showing symptoms of Burnout
Frontline workers say they are “emotionally drained”
Psychological stress | Workload | Staff shortages | Pay (65)
BRITAIN’S SICK NOTE EPIDEMIC DOUBLED IN 9 YEARS
1 million sick notes last year
108% RISE from 2015
1/3rd given Sick Notes are signed off 4 weeks or more
20% will never return to work
Signed off for 6 months
80% will never return to work (66)
Longest Sick Note Epidemic in 25 Years
2.7 MILLION CLAIM TOO ILL TO WORK
Age 16 – 24 and 50 – 64
90% RISE working age adults classed economically inactive
£90.9 BILLION
Health and Disability Benefits by end of decade (67)
20,000 OFF WORK EVERY MONTH WITH MENTAL ILL HEALTH
2/3rds of Total Claims are Incapacity Benefit
2 MILLION currently receiving Universal Credit Health Benefits
69% deemed unfit for any form of work (68)
MORE THAN FIFTH OF UK ADULTS NOT LOOKING FOR WORK
21.8% inactivity rate in UK adults
Age 16 – 64
9.2 MILLION not looking for job or not in work
700,000 HIGHER than before pandemic
PERSISTENTLY HIGH LEVELS in recent years
of Not employed or actively looking for work
1/3rd long term illness cited as main reason (69)
80,000 NHS STAFF SEXUALLY HARASSED AT WORK
Target unwanted sexual behaviour from Patients | Relatives | Public | Colleagues
20,000 reports of sexual assault/harassment within NHS Mental Health Services
22% Ambulance Staff report experiencing unwanted sexual behaviour (70)
1 in 20 young people
economically inactive because of ill health
Worklessness from ill Health
MORE common in 20s than 40s
2021 – 2022
Age 18 to 24
34% Depression, Anxiety or Bi-polar Disorder
2018 – 2022
21% with Mental Health problems were unemployed (71)
RISE IN OBESITY AND REMOTE WORKING
RAPIDLY ACCELERATING BACK AND NECK PROBLEMS
Main reason for being out of work
Driven by Unhealthy Lifestyles
and seismic shifts in working patterns
2.9 MILLION back or neck pain problems
28% RISE since 2019 (72)
£1.4 BILLION PAID
BACK PAIN DISABILITY BENEFIT
People Working From Home skyrocketed
Many end up leaving the workforce
1 MILLION people cannot do their jobs (73)
Many Workplace Well-Being Programmes don’t work
No Evidence to support the Benefits
Types of Intervention Used
- Relaxation Practices
- Time Management
- Coaching
- Online-Coaching
- Well-Being Apps
- Sleep Apps
- Financial Well-Being Programmes (74)
2023
459,000 TOO ILL TO WORK
289,000 RESULT OF SMOKING
99,000 ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION
70,000 MORBIDLY OBESE (75)
40% NHS staff reported feeling unwell
Result of Work-Related Stress in last year (76)
Job Loss During Pregnancy
Linked to INCREASED risk of Miscarriage and Stillbirth
Emotional Discomfort of Job Loss
Can prompt Alcohol Consumption, Smoking and Unhealthy Eating (77)
500,000 working days Councils’ lost in 2022
due to Stress and Mental ill health among Social Care staff
30% of Staff Sickness
Poor Well-Being And Mental Health (78)
2.5 MILLION ‘TOO ILL TO WORK’ ON THE RISE
Many have Interlinked and Complex Health Issues
36% All Working Age report at least one Long Term Health Condition
38% with long term sickness have 5 or more health conditions
70% main Health condition Musculoskeletal
58% of those reported Legs and Feet issues (79)
SHARP RISE IN EXTREME TIREDNESS
Too Sick to Work at RECORD HIGH
Exhausting search for Solutions
Researchers know too little about Fatigue
Sleep Deprivation
£40 BILLION Cost to UK Economy (80)
Workers who rely on Performance Related Pay
HIGHER RISK of CHRONIC STRESS
HEART DISEASE
POOR MENTAL HEALTH
PRP contracts often associated with ‘gig’ economy (81)
2.5 MILLION Off Work With Long-Term Sickness
RECORD HIGH
Mental Health problems among young people
Increase in post viral Fatigue
Back and Neck pain
INCREASE in Home Working
contributing to RISE in Musculoskeletal Issues (82)
HUGE PROBLEM identified
MILLIONS of missing workers contributing to Labour shortage
Caring Responsibilities
Long–term Health Conditions
Can afford Retirement early
562,000 Economically Inactive due to Long–Term Sickness
And would like to Work again (83)
“Hidden Unemployment”
3 MILLION working–age adults added to official jobless figures
Report themselves economically inactive to Government surveys
Stark North–South Divide
Number of people out of work due to Long–Term Sickness
Dramatic RISE in Economic Inactivity since start of Pandemic
Older workers quitting the jobs market
Working–Age Adults
Sharp INCREASE in long–term ill Health
9 MILLION classified as “Economically Inactive”
Students | Retirement | Ill Health | Caring Responsibilities
DECLINING HEALTH
Preventing growing numbers of people from Working (84)
68% Small Business owners suffer with poor Mental Health
57% feel Business at risk of closure due to Economic Instability
30% say Well-Being Not a Priority
Those that suffer most work in –
82% Human Resources
73% Finance | Manufacturing | Utilities | Legal (85)
2022
Quarter million out of work young people
NEVER plan to get a job
Age 18 – 24
66% complaining too difficult to get a good job
50% rely on ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ (86)
Working from Home
Fuelling Alcohol and Drug Addiction
40% RISE in Treatment at Rehab Centres
58% INCREASE in Cocaine Addiction
88% INCREASE in Ketamine (87)
1 in 10 women quit Job because of Menopause Symptoms
63% say Negatively impacts their Work
1 in 4 consider leaving their Job due to Menopause Symptoms (88, 89)
Construction Industry
72% Workers do not feel enough is done to address Mental Health
52% experienced Suicidal thought
45% not comfortable talking about Mental Health Problems at Work (90)
References
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