Record sickness rate: One in two people has been sick this year | Life & Knowledge
Germany has never been so sick! Half of those insured called in sick at work at least once between January and June, reports the DAK.
Things looked very different in 2019. Only 34.5 percent reported sick in the first half of the year. Now the numbers seem to be exploding compared to the year before the pandemic.
After the 10-year record high in 2023 (5.5 percent), the sick leave rate has risen again this year to 5.7 percent! According to DAK boss Andreas Storm, there is no “all-clear in sight.”
More sick days due to depression
According to the fund's current analysis, each of its insured persons will be absent from work on average around ten days in the first half of 2024.
Employees in Old people’s or nursing homes are the most vulnerable. With an average of 13.7 days of sick leave, no other professional group was absent so often. By comparison, IT specialists only had an average of 6.6 days of absence per person.
Most common reasons for failure: Respiratory diseasesfollowed by musculoskeletal disorders and mental illnesses.
Alarming: More and more people are reporting depressions and adjustment disorders! DAK CEO Andreas Storm warns: “The further increase in days of absence due to mental illness is worrying.”
Andreas Storm, CEO of DAK, warns: “Employees in Germany continue to be under pressure in these times of war and crisis, which is also reflected in the number of sick days.”
Dr. Markus Beier, chairman of the Association of General Practitioners, told BILD: “Long-term, often psychological illnesses have been on the rise for years.” Many patients complain of “stress and pressure at work.”.
In addition to a greater sensitivity to mental illness, occupational psychologist Dr. Florian Schweden from the Psychologists' Association also sees the increase in work density, increased pressure to perform and unrealistic workloads due to a lack of skilled workers as triggers.
“A general increase in the mental demands of work can be observed and only too rarely is the workplace responding to this by designing working conditions. This in turn encourages people to try to manage the work using their own resources,” says Dr. Florian Schweden. This increases the susceptibility to all kinds of illnesses.
However, general practitioner chief Dr. Beier also adds that part of the increase is also due to the introduction of electronic certificates of incapacity for work, as every sick note now reaches the health insurance companies. And since the pandemic, working people have been more sensitive about protecting others from infection. That's why they prefer to stay at home even if they have a cold.