New study reveals the high cost of Covid concerns.

 

Workplace absenteeism has cost Australian businesses $14.1 billion in lost productivity so far this year and is expected to rise to $24.2 billion by the end of 2022, according to new report from global research firm, Frost & Sullivan. 

 

The first study of its kind, commissioned by Rentokil Initial, has found that employers are experiencing 70 per cent higher levels of absenteeism than this time last year. 

 

“The continued presence of COVID-19 in the Australian population, including the spike in new cases caused by the Omicron variant, combined with a surge in cases of influenza and other respiratory illnesses, has caused levels of worker absenteeism to increase significantly over the pre-COVID norm,” Andrew Stone, managing director-Pacific, Rentokil Initial said. 

 

The results revealed that almost four-fifths of employees are concerned about workplace hygiene, with nearly one-fifth claiming that it is preventing them from returning to work. 

 

The majority of employers (78 per cent) said working from home is having a negative impact on their business, with 97 per cent saying the biggest impact is reduced teamwork. As well as being unfeasible for many organisations, nearly a third (32 per cent) of employers have also seen a decline in collaboration and more than a quarter (26 per cent) said working from home has negatively affected customer service and satisfaction levels. 

 

Although all employers surveyed said they had a formal workplace hygiene plan or protocol in place, this often equated to hand sanitiser stations or providing and mandating mask-wearing. 

 

“The problem here is that best practice hygiene means more than providing a few bottles of hand sanitiser. Businesses need to take a 360-degree approach to hygiene to make a real difference, which means looking at hand, surface, washroom and air hygiene,” Stone said. 

 

“Only 30 per cent of employers told us their organisations use air purifiers and given that COVID is an airborne virus, and a lot of indoor spaces don’t have natural ventilation, it’s concerning that these solutions aren’t being prioritised,” he said. 

 

Younger workers more likely to call in sick 

 

The study found many employees have exhausted their sick leave balances with workers reporting an average of 10.9 days of absence so far in 2022 and 69 per cent saying they’ve taken more sick leave in 2022 than pre-COVID. Gen Zs (defined as those aged 18-24) have taken the most sick leave, averaging at 14.3 sickies this year, compared with 8.9 days by Baby Boomers (aged 58+). 

 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in workers now being significantly more reluctant to go to work if they have mild symptoms, such as a slight sore throat or sniffles. This is much higher amongst the younger generation, with 74 per cent of workers aged under 24 pulling sickies with relatively minimal symptoms,” Frost & Sullivan managing director, Mark Dougan said.