Workers taking more days off due to flu & Covid; Burnout issues remain

Employees are taking more days off from work in the last quarter of the year because they have been sidelined by the flu or Covid-19. Psychological issues are also playing a role in absenteeism as people are facing more pressure at work, according to health and safety services ArboNed and HumanCapitalCare. Due to the tight labor market making hiring difficult, this work pressure is already high, but it will get worse when colleagues are absent due to illness.

The two occupational health and safety services together have about 63,000 employers as customers and therefore have data on about a million employees. They noticed that psychological absenteeism grew remarkably in 2022. The overall absenteeism rate is 4.8 percent, which is higher than before the coronavirus pandemic. In 2019, for example, the absenteeism rate was still 4.5 percent.

There were major differences throughout the year. At the beginning of the year there was another coronavirus wave, but the flu also returned. That image shifted in April, but in the summer there was a new coronavirus wave. In addition, long-term absenteeism due to psychological complaints was 10 percent higher than before the coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus and flu will also remain visible in 2023, the health and safety services expect. However, the prevention of psychological absenteeism in particular is receiving renewed attention, especially now that the labor market remains tight.

"Mental complaints cause more and more people to drop out, while in many cases this can be prevented with proper and timely help," said medical director Redmer van Wijngaarden of ArboNed. It is important that employers and employees together ensure a good balance between work and private life, he said.