Office notebook. There are a few more employees in the office. The general decrease in absenteeism observed in the spring by the studies of Malakoff Humanis and the Diot-Siaci Social Performance Observatory was confirmed on Thursday 5 September in the private sector.
The Willis Towers Watson (WTW) Absenteeism Barometer 2024, compiled from nominative social security declarations (NSDs) of 420,280 employees from 2,196 companies over a five-year period, shows an absenteeism rate of 4.8% in 2023, compared to 5.4% the previous year. Although it is not the grand return to the office with a rate of 3.8% as in 2019, there is already slightly less absenteeism than in recent years; 94% of stoppages in 2023 are due to illness.
These are the number of breaks lasting less than three months, which are lower than in 2022, the year of the Omicron variant outbreak. Absences of four to seven days have been reduced by almost half. The proportion of employees who take at least one day off during the year has fallen from 43% to 34%. Previous studies have noted the impact of teleworking, which makes it possible to reduce the number of short breaks, to the point that teleworkers choose to continue their work remotely rather than take time off when they are not too ill.
The WTW study that identifies “populations at risk” AND “potential causes”That is, who are absent and why, points out that the reduction in absences in 2023 is therefore less marked for women (–8%), overrepresented in activities other than teleworking in the health or hospitality sectors, than for men (–12%). On the other hand, it affects all sectors of activity and all socio-professional categories at different levels. The absenteeism rate for managers is 2.3% and that for workers 6.9% with longer durations (twenty-eight days of rest on average). “related to the arduousness of certain professions”specifies WTW.
Friday, empty office day
The study also points out that the less stable the employment situation, the less absenteeism there is: 2.1% of absenteeism in fixed-term contracts compared to 5% in permanent contracts, and that Friday remains the day of empty offices. The increase in the rate of absenteeism is surprisingly continuous throughout the week: 4.8% on Monday, 4.9% on Tuesday, 5% on Wednesday and Thursday and 5.1% on Friday. At this point, “Unfortunately we do not have qualitative explanations”comments a WTW spokesman. Enough to fuel questions from even the most distrustful businessmen.
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