The number of sick days taken by British employees has risen to 41% over the last three years, it has been revealed.
Over half of businesses reported a decline in overall employee performance and productivity resulting from sick day increase. Meanwhile, a quarter of employee turnover in the last 12 months was related to stress, burnout or other mental-health-related conditions.
The latest Hiring Trends Index by Totaljobs, surveyed over 1,000 UK HR decision-makers. It found 59% of them believe this spike in sick days is down to a deterioration of workplace culture and employee satisfaction.
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Over half, 55%, also reported a decline in employee performance, as employers struggle to fill skills gaps in the wake of absenteeism. Businesses attribute declining productivity to five key factors: greater workload, difficulty attracting staff, reliance on temporary staff, low morale and increased absenteeism.
These are in turn impacting staff retention. Organisations report that stress, burnout, or other mental health conditions accounted for 25% of employee turnover in the past twelve months. Health-related issues were the third most common reason for resignations at 19%, following career changes 32%, and finding better opportunities elsewhere, 29%.
Julius Probst, labour market economist at Totaljobs said: “The UK labour market has been loosening due to the decline in vacancy numbers and more joiners to the workforce. Meanwhile, the competition between candidates has increased but businesses are still struggling to find skilled talent. With more people out of work due to sickness and sick-leave numbers on the rise, it’s never been more vital for employers to create workplaces that support employee wellbeing.”
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