Generational Divide Emerges in Workplace Sick Leave
Younger workers report taking sick days without illness at twice the rate of older colleagues, amidst broader economic challenges for Gen Z.
Image: Eddie Pollard / AI
Sarah Connor
A stark generational divide has emerged in workplace sick leave.
Younger staff frequently cite burnout, tiredness, hangovers, avoiding tasks, and attending job interviews as reasons for taking unnecessary time off, according to Merlin Strategy for the Centre for Social Justice.
Gen Z employees are almost twice as likely to take sick days unnecessarily compared to their colleagues aged 55 or older.
More than half of these under-25s cited attending a job interview or engaging in other work as reasons for their absence; 52 percent attributed it to social engagements.
This figure sharply contrasts with just 43 percent of staff aged 55 to 64.
Young workers also cited being 'too tired' as a reason for their absences.
Gen Z has reportedly become known for being less committed to their work compared with older generations and less invested in traditional methods; a Merlin Strategy poll further claims that Generation Z employees are more likely to pull a sickie compared to workers aged over 55.
The top priority for Gen Z workers was salary, according to a 2022 job-seeker survey, contrasting with millennials who focused more on career progression and personal development.
Research indicates that almost half of those aged 18 to 29 are experiencing a so-called quarter-life crisis.
Almost two-thirds of people in their early 20s lived with their parents last year.
Unemployment among 16- to 24-year-olds stood at 16.2 percent, with almost one million young people reportedly out of work in the three months to June.
Alan Milburn noted that young Neets were more likely to be economically inactive than unemployed, amid increasing health-based inactivity due to anxiety, depression, or neurodevelopmental conditions.
Alan Milburn indicated that Young Neets were more likely to be economically inactive than unemployed, amid increasing health-based inactivity due to anxiety, depression, or neurodevelopmental conditions.
The Centre for Social Justice revealed that 2.15 million people aged 50 to 64 are receiving out-of-work benefits, a rise of 600,000 from pre-Covid-19 pandemic figures.