Workers are putting in fewer hours than before the pandemic around the world as the number of sick days surge, according to a new global report. The Telegraph has the story.
People are clocking in fewer hours on average in all countries apart from those with low incomes, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), after a “significant” rise in sick days.
Sick days in the U.K. rose by 36% between 2019 and 2022, according to the report. A record 185.6 million working days were lost because of sickness or injury in 2022, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has previously said.
A surge in ill health has been blamed on long waiting lists for NHS treatment and a rise in mental health issues post-pandemic, as well as back problems.
The ILO report shows the issues are not unique to Britain. In Germany, working days lost to ill health rose by 38% between 2019 and 2022, while sick days surged by 72% in Estonia.
Deteriorating health could be behind the fall in average working hours globally, the ILO said, blaming ageing populations and long-term impacts from Covid.The report said: “Long Covid, affecting around 20% of those infected by the virus, according to the World Health Organisation, may be having a significant impact on activity measures of labour markets.”
Workers in some sectors like healthcare have reduced their hours after suffering from stress and burnout during the pandemic, the ILO said.
The agency added that the impact of pandemic-era policies such as furlough were “fading only slowly and have prevented a faster recovery of average hours worked”.
Lingering effects of furlough are keeping people attached to jobs, with people sticking with their employers regardless of how many working hours they are offered.
Long Covid or Long Vaccine?
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