Asda chair Lord Rose has urged the Government to reform the benefits system to get more people into work.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 2.8m people of working age say long-term sickness means they are unable to work, up from 2.2m before the pandemic.
Lord Rose, a former M&S boss and Ocado chair, told The Telegraph: “We must increase productivity. We must tackle these 2.8m people who are economically inactive. We must make sure that we’ve got the benefit system in balance.
“Sure, we’ve got to help those who are the needy ones. But equally, we have to make sure that those who are more able to contribute than they are doing at the moment are encouraged to do so.”
Rose added: “We can’t just become a state now where people just live on handouts. ‘Oh, I’m not feeling very well. Oh, I’ve got a headache. Oh, it’s a bit cold this morning. Oh, I’m feeling a bit tired. Oh, I’m a bit stressed out.’
“I’m not being rude. And people will say I’m some toff who’s got a silver spoon in his mouth. Well, I wasn’t born with a silver spoon. I was born and lived in a caravan. I’m 75 years old and I’m still working.”
Rose’s comments follows that of business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who earlier this week said: “I am really concerned by the state of the labour market, by the rise of people not working after the pandemic.”
The Asda chair told the newspaper that the worklessness crisis would take “a decade or two” to address.
He said: “We’ve got to start from the beginning, educating our people in the right skills that they need for the future.”
Rose also added that they should be taught that the workplace is “fun” and a place where they can learn new skills.
He added: “The workplace is somewhere where you can earn money and earn self-esteem.”
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