Many of the issues facing those in priority groups are also ones that are faced by people already in the Scottish workforce, and will be familiar to many employers.

• 4% of the working age population in employment are lone parents
• 12% of the working age population in employment have a disability
• 24% of the working age population in employment are aged over 50
• Nearly 3 in 10 employees will experience a mental health problem each year

This means that, on average, in a business with 45 staff approximately:

• 2 will be lone parents
• 5 will have a disability
• Up to 13 employees will experience some sort of mental health problem
  in any year
• 10 employees will be aged over 50

Obviously, the workforce will vary greatly between different employers and these figures do not give an accurate representation of all businesses. But they demonstrate that some employers may already have experience of dealing with some of the issues associated with priority groups.

This means that many employers will already, for example, have needed to consider making adjustments for an employee with a disability or will have provided support for an employee experiencing mental ill health.