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The UK lost more than an estimated £100 billion ($129 billion) in productivity in 2023 due to employee sickness, according to a recent report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), a London-based think tank.
Where in the world? The number of people living with major illness in the UK is predicted to grow by 2040, in part due to long Covid and indirect pandemic-related health outcomes.
The cost of lost productivity in 2023 had risen by £30 million since 2018 in the UK, with £25 billion due to lower productivity from employees working while sick, also known as presenteeism. UK workers are losing up to 44 days of productivity because of presenteeism, a 9-day increase since 2018. Workers engaging in presenteeism tend to make more mistakes and work more slowly, and it can also diminish their ability to recover, the report noted.
UK employees are also taking an additional three sick days per year, with the average person taking roughly 6.7 sick days.
The report stated that workplaces must do more to ensure employee health for the betterment of the economy, and encouraged employers to take an empathetic approach to employee wellness.
Employers should create systems that allow employees with long-term conditions to thrive, according to IPPR. It suggested that employers adopt a “do no harm” approach, in which employers work to reduce harmful working conditions, as well as offer more sick days.
“Too often, UK workers are being pressured to work through sickness when that’s not appropriate—harming their well-being and reducing productivity,” Jamie O’Halloran, senior research fellow at the IPPR, said in a press release. “This can be because of a bad workplace culture, poor management, financial insecurity, or just weak understanding of long-term conditions among UK employers.”
Satellite view. Presenteeism costs the US an estimated $1.5 trillion in lost productivity per year, according to a 2023 report from fitness platform Gympass. It can also be caused by disengagement, stress, and a lack of team chemistry, according to the report.
“Business and HR leaders are focused on absenteeism but also need to be focused on presenteeism, which is even more widespread,” Cesar Carvalho, CEO of Gympass, told Fortune in December.
Employers should keep an eye out for presenteeism indicators, like lower output, and make sure employees have opportunities to work flexibly, which can reduce the likelihood of presenteeism, HR Brew previously reported.