Economic Inactivity Trailblazer Roundtable 2

We want to hear directly from employers about the barriers you face, what would make inclusive recruitment and flexible job design easier.

The North East Chamber of Commerce, working with Interdigitate, is leading a new regional piece of work, on behalf of the North East Combined Authority (NECA), to understand how employers can be better supported to widen access to work while also addressing ongoing recruitment challenges across the North East. The work responds to two connected issues facing the region: high levels of economic inactivity, often linked to health conditions, caring responsibilities, or lack of flexible work, and persistent recruitment difficulties across key sectors. Although there is already good practice in place, employer engagement is often fragmented across programmes and places, making it harder for employers to navigate support and for people facing multiple or complex barriers to access sustainable jobs.

Through this work, we want to hear directly from employers about the real barriers they face, what would make inclusive recruitment and flexible job design easier, and how employer engagement could work better at a regional level. Employer insight will shape the testing of new, collaborative approaches, help simplify access to skills and employment support, and inform future regional commissioning and policy. The aim is to create a more joined-up, employer-friendly system that supports business needs while opening up good work opportunities to more people across the North East