Over-50s quitting the workforce fuels inflation
An exodus of over-50s who left the workforce during the Covid pandemic is fuelling wage inflation, says the boss of John Lewis.
Dame Sharon White said any government must think "really hard" about how to get more older people back into work.
The UK has seen one million people, mostly in their 50s, leave work since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak.
That "inevitably" causes wage inflation, said Dame Sharon.
The number of "economically inactive" people - those without a job and not seeking to work - is higher than before Covid struck, according to the Office for National Statistics. Retirement is the most popular reason given by people aged between 50 and 70 for not working.
Job vacancies are at a record high and employers who want to attract and retain staff are under pressure to lift wages, which in turn fuels inflation.
Inflation, the rate at which prices rise, is currently at a 40-year high while the Bank of England has warned the UK will fall into recession later this year.
The chairwoman of the John Lewis Partnership, owner of the department stores and the Waitrose supermarket chain, told the BBC's Today Programme she had "never seen anything quite like" the country's current economic situation throughout her entire
fuels inflation
Dame Sharon, who is a former Treasury civil servant, said she was cautious about giving advice to her former colleagues, but said "one area" that had not had "enough attention" was the jobs market situation over the last 18 months.
Listen to Sharon White's interview in fullWhere are Britain's missing million workers?UK will fall into recession this year, warns Bank
"Regardless of what has happened coming out of Covid, if the labour market is that tight, if we continue to have far fewer people in work, looking for work - you've inevitably got more inflation and more wage inflation," she said.
"I guess I would encourage...any government to really think much more about how to we encourage more people back into work.
"There's not a business in the UK that's not finding it very difficult to recruit at the moment because there are so many more jobs and so far fewer people looking for work. It's a big issue."