The stigma of the health crisis seems to persist in business. Last year, the absenteeism rate reached record highs, especially among those under 30, according to Axa Health’s annual Datascope.
In 2022, the absenteeism rate will reach a record level, proof that the upward trend of recent years is well established, tells us the 4th Absenteeism Observatory led by Axa Santé. In 2019, the pre-Covid reference year, it was observed that just under a third of employees (30%) stopped at least once during the year. In 2022, the rate now stands at 44%, i.e. nearly one in two employees.
It is work stoppages of between 4 and 7 days that particularly soared in 2022, going from 24.9% of the number of stoppages in 2019 to 36.7% in 2022. “This increase can potentially be linked to epidemic waves related to Omicron which have affected a large part of the companies” underlines the Datascope.
People under 30 particularly affected
The increase in absenteeism concerned all age groups, but the youngest seem to be more affected by the phenomenon. The Datascope thus observes an increase of more than 50% in the rate of absenteeism among the under 30s between 2019 and 2022. age of the population” he presents as an explanation.
“The senior segment, for its part, remains the one with the highest rate of absenteeism and the aging of the age pyramid should lead us to pay particular attention to this population in the years to come” underlines Diane Millerondeperrois, Managing Director AXA Health & Collectives. The duration of work stoppages increases exponentially with age. The average duration observed in seniors (42.6 days) is thus twice as high as that observed in the population as a whole (18 days).
Psychological disorders, the leading cause of long-term sick leave
The Absenteeism Observatory also notes that psychological disorders have established themselves as the leading cause of long-term sick leave. “This phenomenon is all the more worrying as it affects more and more young employees”. As for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which had recorded a slight decline in 2021, they started to rise again in 2022. This phenomenon is very probably linked to the resumption of activity, but also to the generalization of telework which sometimes leads to no more sedentary lifestyle or bad postures given the different work habits and equipment used by the employee at home”.