UK firms have lost a further two working weeks per employee despite a concerted effort to increase the range of health and wellbeing benefits offered to staff, according to research from Vitality.
Burnout from being overworked, depression and long Covid were among the most significant health effects for employees.
The insurer revealed organisations lost an average of 51 days per employee this year due to absence or lack of productivity, up from 39 days in 2019 before the pandemic hit.
Vitality estimated this hit the UK economy to the tune of £127.9bn, up from £92bn in 2019 when the research was last carried out.
Largest culprits
The insurer surveyed more than 8,500 employees across the UK as part of its Britain’s Healthiest Workplace survey with consulting partner Aon.
One in five of those employees surveyed (20%) said they were suffering from burnout, with those affected typically losing 93 productive days per year – more than double that of those who did not experience burnout.
Similarly, individuals with symptoms of depression (10%) lost an average of 110 productive days per year (compared to 12% in 2019, who lost 98 productive days).
Long Covid sufferers lost an average of 87 productive days compared to 47 days for those without.
These productivity losses were in spite of a concerted effort from employers to support colleagues.
The survey showed eight in 10 employers surveyed offered at least one of 40 separate health and wellbeing offerings, such as physical and mental health workshops or on-site health clinics or gym facilities as part of their employment package.
This compared to just 5% offering the same level of support in 2019.
However, there were signs that offering more flexible primary care solutions – like a virtual GP service – could have a positive impact on productivity.
Employees with this type of health support reported lower than average productive days lost at 46 days per year, compared to 56 days for those without.
The work environment was also shown to affect productivity losses and absence, with hybrid workers having lost the least number of productive days (47) and home workers the most (53), a difference of 13%.
Not just the pandemic
Neville Koopowitz, CEO of Vitality, noted that with the UK facing an increasingly challenging economic backdrop, the dramatic increase in lost productivity was truly alarming.
“While some of the factors are a hangover from the pandemic, the data shows that this is just a small piece of the puzzle and it’s far more complex than that,” he said.
“Businesses must look at what they are doing and why. Only by taking a tailored, targeted and informed approach to their employees’ health and wellbeing, can they develop an impactful strategy and bring in the interventions that will make an impact – it’s a definite case of quality and not just quantity.
“When businesses get this right and tackle the health and wellbeing issues head on, they’ll see huge changes to their productivity levels, which will only benefit us all.”
Colin Barnes, director of UK health solutions at Aon, added: “The scale of the health and wellbeing decline among the UK workforce should be a wake-up call to employers.
“While the intent and ambition are there, the findings of Britain’s Healthiest Workplace show that this is not translating into results for employees.
“Businesses should take this as an opportunity to refocus their strategy with data to ensure budgets are spent in the most impactful way – including providing the support that employees need – which ultimately benefits the business too.”