The latest UK labour market figures show unemployment rising to around 5%, the highest level since the pandemic, with around 1.8 million people now out of work. ([The Guardian][1]) Alongside this, the Government’s new Employment of Disabled People 2024 statistics highlight that nearly *one in four* working-age adults are now classed as disabled, with disabled people facing a higher unemployment rate (6.9% vs 3.6%) and a much higher economic inactivity rate (43.0% vs 15.3%) than non-disabled people; most of those inactive report long-term sickness as their main reason for being out of the labour market. ([GOV.UK][2]) This is not only a welfare issue, it is a workforce and productivity issue. At R-Health, we see every day how long-term physical and mental health conditions quietly push people out of good work when earlier occupational health input, timely clinical care and thoughtful workplace adjustments could have kept them in meaningful employment. As a specialist occupational health provider, we believe the Government’s figures should act as a call to action: employers, policymakers and clinicians need to work together to design kinder, more inclusive workplaces, invest in prevention and rehabilitation, and ensure that people living with long-term conditions are supported to stay in or return to work wherever possible, rather than being written off as a “cost” to the system.