Dramatic increase in frequency & volume of workplace absence & presenteeism as new ways of working bed in, says Fruitful Insights

• New two-year study indicates self-reported* sickness absence has increased by 29% and presenteeism has increased by 18% against a backdrop of poor productivity between May 2021 and November 2022.**

• Employee intention to quit is still very high, in spite of more permanent shifts to new ways of working by many, with 41% of respondents indicating they are likely to leave if offered a suitable alternative position.

• Generation Z are most likely to feel disconnected from their local community, also most likely to feel that they don’t have people in their life they can depend on for help.

Fruitful Insights, a data and analytics business that quantifies the impact of wellbeing on workforce productivity, today announces the release of its latest research report entitled: Rethinking the future of workplace wellbeing – Managing change in the post-pandemic era. The data, which was collected in the period between May 2021 and November 2022, shows that absence reported by employees has increased by 29% and presenteeism has increased by 18% during that period. The increased volume of absences highlights the uptick in episodes of Covid-19 and in short term illness such as coughs, colds and flu following the end of lockdown and a move back to onsite working, for at least some of the working week. The data also denotes a change in the type of illness being reported with the percentage of mental health issues decreasing slightly.

These findings come against the backdrop of less than 0.9% improvement in productivity since 2020 and the highest sickness absence rate for a decade The UK was also set to be the only industrialised country with employment below its pre-pandemic levels at the start of 2023, according to a recent analysis by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES).

Intention to quit suggests new ways of working might not be the employee wellbeing panacea

In line with other studies, Fruitful Insights say their research findings indicate that the new ways of working challenge for office-based employees is still a conundrum, with no clear picture as to preferred working patterns (See Fig 1). The findings show that there has been a slight improvement in working relationships, which reflects a return to more normal working patterns, but this is accompanied by a slight increase in the intention to quit which, at 41%, remains stubbornly high (See Fig. 2); staff attrition representing a primary driver of impaired workplace wellbeing. This trend is particularly evident in the Generation X  group; with 40% of the group indicating they are now very likely or definitely inclined to leave, compared with 34% previously. Gen X is a key cohort in the working population, representing some of the most experienced and highly skilled in the UK workforce and are costly to replace, says Fruitful.

Commenting on the results Mike Tyler, Chairman and Co-founder of Fruitful Insights, said: “These numbers should represent a wake-up call for employers. Despite everyone’s great sigh of relief as we returned to business as usual, there are still fundamental challenges around workplace wellbeing.

“Significant investment in wellbeing initiatives is made by many organisations, but major issues remain. We believe that although employers have the best intentions, they are really struggling to understand and measure the drivers of impaired wellbeing in their organisations – not to mention connecting wellbeing with productivity. Even when they do know what the problems are, they still need help putting in place meaningful and effective programmes.”  

The report also confirmed the increasing challenge of financial stresses, which was starting to increase at the time the data was collected in Q3, 2022. Again, this signifies another area that will impact on business performance and could be alleviated to some degree with help from employers, claims Fruitful Insights.

The determinants of employee wellbeing are complex and necessitate joined-up thinking and measures

The study findings highlight  differences across the generations. A feeling of social disconnection was felt most keenly by Gen Z and Millennials, respectively.  The data indicated they are less able to depend on friends and family, with Gen Zs indicated that they are feeling 17%  more disconnected from their local communities than they did during the pandemic.  Respondents also indicated they felt local services (health, transport, social services) had declined.

Fruitful’s Clinical Psychology Advisor Dr Michelle O’Sullivan commented: “Despite having been stuck in lockdown often within their local communities, younger generations continue to show a worrying lack of connection to the people around them, and a reduced reliance on friends and families. Our increasing disconnection from the people we live with, work with, and connect with in our communities is not how we were designed to function as human beings. We are social animals and our mental wellbeing is strongly linked to the quality of our relationships. It’s critical that businesses support great social interactions as part of positive workplace environments and that we make spending time with friends and family easy.”

The full report provides a detailed analysis of the data and is available free at www.fruitfulinsights.co.uk/23wellbeing report. (to be finalised)

Notes to editors

*Self reported data refers to data captured directly from UK employees as part of this research study.

**The Fruitful study was based on 3000 UK employees recruited to reflect the demographics of the UK

working population. The first data capture was completed and analysed in May 2021 during the pandemic

The second data capture was completed in November 2022 post pandemic. The data comparisons consider the differences in wellbeing status of UK workers between these two points.

All the data was captured directly from individuals using Fruitful evidence-based Wellbeing Assessment software.

Generational Cohorts referenced:

Generation Z (born in the mid-1990s and later)

Millennials (born from 1981 to the mid-1990s)

Generation X (born from 1965 to 1980)

Baby Boomers (born from 1946 to 1964)

About Fruitful Insights

Fruitful Insights Ltd is a new venture formed by insurance industry veteran and key opinion leader, Mike Tyler, and digital health specialist, June Dawson.  As a Workplace Health data and analytics company, Fruitful Insights has developed a SaaS based application designed to empower Business Leaders to better understand the drivers of impaired wellbeing within their organisations. The solution’s ‘Insight Engine’  is powered by a unique set of models and algorithms which allow employees to complete and access their personal wellbeing assessment and report. As the transformed data volume grows employers can access their own intelligent analytics dashboard. The dashboard combines a workforce productivity analysis with a detailed evaluation of the organisations wellbeing status.

Enquiries: info@fruitfulinsights.co.uk