Longer absences due to coronavirus cost employers billions of dollars

More than 100,000 people have been sick at home due to Covid infection for over a year in the Netherlands. This costs employers in the Netherlands more than 8 billion euros per year, according to NOS calculations based on new research from UMC Groningen.

The effects of corona on workers were first investigated by scientists in the Netherlands. The researchers presented their findings on the impact in northern Netherlands this afternoon.

Based on this, NOS calculated the extent of employee absenteeism and the associated costs at the regional and national level. The calculations were submitted to Xander Koolman, health economist at VU University, for quality control.

The most accurate cost estimate can be made for the North Holland region (Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe). According to the UMCG research population of 10,000 workers representing this region, 1.28 percent of workers appear to have been sick at home for more than a year after being infected with Covid.

High costs for companies

If this dropout rate is applied to 908,000 people, the total workforce of North Holland, according to the Dutch Statistical Institute, it means 11,622 people have been unemployed for over a year due to Corona.

UMCG researchers determined that the average cost of productivity per day and per employee was €312.72. In an average working year, these costs increase to €71,300 per employee. For North Holland, this means a cost block of over 828m euros.

Size is probably underestimated

“And we’re probably still underestimating the problem,” says research leader Sandra Brouwer, who is also a professor of social medicine. “From the very beginning, we did not ask about complaints such as cerebral palsy and hypersensitivity to stimuli. Then you might miss people who drop out for these reasons.”

Even with this cautious estimate, the impact at the national level is significant. If a drop-out rate of 1.28% is applied to more than 9 million workers in the Netherlands, more than 100,000 people will be sick at home for more than a year. This costs employers in the Netherlands more than 8 billion euros per year.

Health economist Xander Koolman sees bright spots. Especially when it comes to absenteeism trends at ArboNed, one of the nation’s largest occupational health and safety services. In 2020 and 2021, 2.5 percent and 2.2 percent of workers with corona infections were out of work for more than a year. In 2022, long-term failure had already fallen to 0.5 percent.

“You see that there are people recovering. And also the limited influx of new people. This corresponds to international trends. This is partly due to immunity in the Netherlands due to the large number of infections and vaccinations. But probably also because of new virus variants that are less likely to cause pulmonary Covid.”

Research Lung Covid

However, a small group can be expected to remain permanently unable to work after a corona infection. American scientists also suspect that people who have been vaccinated or who have survived Corona without any problems can still catch lung Kovid. The more often someone gets sick with Corona, the greater the chance that certain symptoms will become chronic.

Therefore, knowledge about the prevention and treatment of lung diseases becomes important. Recently, however, the future of lung Covid research in the Netherlands has proven uncertain due to insufficient funding. If all goes well, a pulmonary Covid research agenda will be announced in May.

According to a Ministry of Health spokesperson, Minister Ernst Kuipers plans to provide additional funding for the establishment of a lung Covid expert network and a multi-year research programme. “There will be more clarity on that next month.”

Source: NOS

follow:
\