Health issues among employees are costing the German economy an estimated €506 billion annually, a new study by Vitality and RAND Europe has found.
According to Vitality’s Global Health and Productivity Index, German employees lost an average of 69.3 productive working days a year due to health-related concerns, with Germany recording a higher number of lost productive working days than the UK, United States, Japan and Singapore, the other four countries included in the report.ment
‘The results underscore that it is not enough to treat health problems only when they occur: prevention and early intervention must be given greater priority,’ Vitality noted.
Most productivity losses resulted not from employee absences but from ‘presenteeism’, when people continue working despite health problems that prevent them from performing at full capacity.
In Germany, 54.4 of the 69.3 lost productive days per employee were attributed to presenteeism, the study found.
Mental health
Elsewhere, the study also identified mental health as a particular concern, with some 72% of German employees reporting moderate to severe psychological stress. At the same time, only 16% said they had access to employer-funded counselling or mental health services, compared with an average of 21% across the five countries.
Elsewhere, just over two fifths (42%) of German employees felt their manager cared about their health and wellbeing.
Employees at high risk of mental health problems lost an average of 30.3 additional productive working days annually compared with those without such a risk, the study found, with younger workers particularly affected. Around 32% of German employees aged 18 to 34 reported severe depressive symptoms, the highest rate for this age group among the five countries studied.
The study also identified a gap in workplace mental health support. Employer-funded health insurance was available to 18% of German employees, compared with an average of 33% across the countries surveyed.
Employee health
“If Germany wants to increase its productivity, it must invest more heavily in the health of its employees,” commented Neville Koopowitz, global CEO of Vitality.
“Our data shows that the greatest productivity losses do not result from absence, but from people who come to work despite health problems and perform far below their potential. Companies that strategically promote the health of their employees gain a clear competitive advantage. The cost of inaction already amounts to more than €500 billion per year for the German economy.” Read more here.
