An unexpected night out leaves the young man with a dilemma. Should he go hangover to work or call sick? Rising numbers are choosing the latter, and this is a growing problem, he claims news outlet for FOA, the union for public workers.
Young people are increasingly calling sick people to work, a number of different studies show, reports Fagbladet FOA.
One of them found that the number of people under the age of 30 who reported sick between 2017 and 2019 increased by almost 14 percent, to the extent that young people are more likely to take time off than older colleagues are more susceptible to health complications.
The sectors most affected are education, health and social services.
It does not bode well for the future
“Higher sickness absence among young people is a huge problem,” claimed federal secretary of FOA Maria Melchiorsen.
“They are the ones we must build the future on, so the problem screams for action. And it must be a new form of action, because the current effort is not working. โ
Melchiorsen is concerned that the young people “lack mentors and support” at work, which in turn makes them feel inadequate. This makes them more likely to “quickly pull the plug with headaches”.
Mental problems, generational frustration and harsh working conditions
Surveys conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Housing and the Municipal and Regional Wage Data Office indicate that the problem is widespread.
Many of the affected young people have mental health problems, the Danish Health and Medicines Authority claims. Young women are particularly vulnerable.
In addition, generational frustration is also to blame as well as tougher working conditions.
The way we start can be crucial
Jeppe Karl Sรธrensen, Ph.D. -students at the National Research Center for Occupational Health, who are currently studying the issue, are not surprised.
“We still know very little about young people’s sickness absence, but it is characterized by a short-term absence of less than seven days, and short-term absence decreases with age,” he told Fagbladet FOA.
โIn our project, we follow young people from the moment they enter the labor market. It gives us a unique opportunity to investigate whether various factors in the beginning of a young person’s working life have an impact on their sickness absence. The transition from school to work and introduction to work is important. We talk a lot about getting a good end to our working life, but we also need to talk about having a good start to our working life. โ
Source: The Nordic Page