Total sickness absenteeism in the third quarter is 6,6 percent, according to the seasonally adjusted data. This is an increase of 4,3 percent compared to the previous quarter.
- Society continues to be affected by the corona pandemic, which is impacting sickness absenteeism. The number of self-reported absences has fluctuated greatly, but has increased in the last two quarters. Total sickness absence increased less this quarter than in the previous quarter. However, it is still higher than the normal situation and is the highest we had during the pandemic, says director of labor and social services, Hans Christian Holte.
– Half of the places lost work for women falls on employees health and social care services. It's both about the fact that about one in three women work in this industry. Also the point is that health Service is under constant pressure from the pandemic, which is reflected in sickness absence statistics, says Holte.
Health and social services have the highest sickness absence (7,1%) and increased by 7% from the same quarter last year. The industry was responsible for more than 2,1 million lost work days this quarter. In the case of women employed in health and social services, sickness absence increased by 7,9%. As for men, absenteeism in the same industry increased by 2,2%.
Absenteeism due to illness has increased in all counties
– Especially health and care workers social issues have seen a sharp increase in this diagnostic group in the last year. The same applies to staff in teaching. It's reasonable to think this is due to fatigue from the prolonged pandemic, Holte says.
Absenteeism due to illness increased in all counties, most in Trøndelag (+ 6,4%) and Møre og Romsdal (+ 6,4%) and the least in inland (+ 1,6%).
Nordland has the highest sickness absence (5,6%), followed by Troms and Finnmark (5,2%). Oslo has the lowest sickness absence (3,7%).
Source: NAV
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