Carers Scotland recently held their Employment Conference for 2025, focusing on the barriers to employment and employability for unpaid carers.
An excellent selection of employers, with a clear understanding of the value of workplace support for carers - including Brodies LLP solicitors, drinks company The Edrington Group, Student Loans Company and Renfrewshire Council - spoke about their approach to implementing this kind of support and the reality of having it available to carers working within their organisation.
Ashley McPartlin from Brodies LLP and Jo Dixon from Student Loans Company were also able to share their experiences of being working carers who benefitted from carer supportive workplaces, while Jodi Codona provided a perspective as someone who had been through an employability programme and ultimately ended up started her own business based on her experiences.
Tom Arthur MSP, Minister for Employment and Investment, joined the afternoon session panel to speak and answer questions on what the Scottish Government is doing to support employment and employability for carers.
Richard Meade, the director of Carers Scotland, also used this session to share findings from the ‘Unlocking the Door’ and ‘State of Caring’ research reports on employment and employability for carers. His presentation highlighted 34% of the carers surveyed had given up work entirely due to their caring role, 42% of working carers reducing their working hours, and 21% have taken on a lower paid roles to balance work with their caring responsibilities. Furthermore.
As well as being detrimental to the wellbeing and financial security of unpaid carers, employers are losing valuable members of staff, often with many years of knowledge and experience. With over 627,000 carers currently living in Scotland, and this number only set to rise as we live and work for longer, this is a real issue that employers need to address.
The Carers Scotland Employment Conference 2025 was well received by attendees, and it was excellent to see such enthusiastic discussion during the Q&A and networking sections of the day. Delegates spoke about developing support at their own organisations, and many wondered how learning can best be shared – something that Carers Scotland hopes to facilitate going forward.
The charity is keen to reach employers across Scotland, many of whom may not yet have in place workplace support for carers, and can talk about how this can benefit both staff members and the business as a whole.
Carers Scotland can help employers to build and develop their workplace support for members of staff who are carers via their Carer Positive awards scheme. To find out more visit www.carerpositive.org or email info@carerpositive.org.