Stronger flu wave – number of sick days high – and rising

In 2021 and 2020, 4.5 and 3.9 million cases of absenteeism were recorded, according to the “Salzburger Nachrichten”. Compared to 2018 (5.0 million cases) and 2019 (5.1 million), the previous year’s value was an increase of about 20 percent.

Stronger flu epidemic contributes to absenteeism plus
And the trend continues: this year there were already 1.5 million cases in mid-March. The figures for 2022 are also higher than in previous years when added to sick days: 77.3 million sick days came together, compared to 68 million the year before. The ÖGK has repeatedly reported high absenteeism rates in recent weeks due to a stronger flu wave than in the Corona years. But it is not only the sharp increase in respiratory infections that causes absenteeism to rise, the corona figures also continue to contribute to this.

So far, only data from the ÖGK has been taken into account
The data only includes dependent employees who are insured with the ÖGK, but with more than 80 percent of all insured, this is the vast majority. The data for all insured persons, including civil servants, the self-employed and farmers for 2022, will not be available until the end of the year with the absence report drawn up by the economic research institute on behalf of the social insurance funds. Wifo expert Benjamin Bittschi sees no long-term trend in the now published ÖGK figures and points out that the number of days of sick leave per employee has been stagnating for years.