People working fewer hours due to Long COVID, as sick days increase dramatically: ILO report – Down To Earth Magazine

Accommodation & food services, transportation & storage among sectors that sawsubstantial drops in mean hours worked

March 11, 2024 will mark four years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. As economies, borders and workplaces reopened, the global unemployment dropped to the lowest level in 2023 compared to the beginning of the pandemic, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). Along with this, the working poverty rate (share of employed persons living in poverty due to low-paying jobs or low incomes) and informality has also approached pre-pandemic rates.

But the desire and need to return to pre-COVID situation has come along with a reality that will especially worry the employers, reveals a new report.

Despite the fact that more people are entering the workforce, the number of hours worked are often lower than they were prior to the pandemic, said the World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2024 report released by ILO January 10, 2024.

The total number of working hours increased in all countries between 2019 and 2023, regardless of income levels. Strong employment growth throughout the post-pandemic recovery has been the main driver of this.

However, the difference between the average number of working hours and the total hours worked grew. Mean weekly hours per worker were lower in 2023 than in 2019 across all income groups except low-income countries, where they were slightly higher, the ILO noted.

The percentage decrease in average hours worked in upper-middle-income countries was less than 1 per cent and in high-income and lower-middle-income countries over 2 per cent.

The trend indicates a decrease in the optimal utilisation of workers, the analysis showed. The reasons for the reductions in hours per worker include increases in part-time employment because of care duties or health reasons, the authors noted.

But one of the reasons behind this, according to the ILO report, is the ongoing longer-term health problems that have built up over the past three years. An increasing number of people are suffering from long-term illnesses attributed to COVID-19, now popular as the Long COVID.

Long COVID can affect anyone exposed to SARS-CoV-2, regardless of age or severity of original symptoms, according to WHO. It is a debilitating post-infection multi-system disease, with impacts on multiple organ systems. It has over 300 symptoms, including fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive dysfunction, impairing ability of a person to perform daily activities for several months or years.

The number of sick days per person has grown dramatically from pre-pandemic levels, the analysts observed. This indicates the negative effects of Long COVID on people's life.

Deteriorated health post-pandemic could be a possible reason for decreases in mean working hours, read the report.

This is consistent with the WHOs December 2022 warning that Long COVID, which affects about 20 per cent of people infected, may be significantly influencing labour market activity metrics, such as working hours.

According to WHO, more than 17 million people across the WHO European Region may have experienced it during 2020 and 2021. As of March 5, 2023, an estimated 1.9 million people in the UK alone were living with Long COVID.

In 2022, the number of sick days per worker in a year remained significantly higher than in 2019. According to data from at least 12 European countries included in the ILO analysis, between 2019 and 2022, the average number of sick days taken by employees increased by 3-72 per cent.

In Estonia, where there is scientific proof of long-term COVID, the annual number of sick days per worker rose by 72 per cent during the period, while it increased by 38 per cent in Germany and Latvia.

People who develop chronic fatigue syndrome (ME / CFS) after their SARS-CoV-2 infection tended to remain severely ill for a long time, found a study by the Charit-Universittsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbrck Center across Germany

Scientific studies done in many countries, including the United States and Africa, showed that individuals who contracted mild or asymptomatic cases are experiencing lasting symptoms with significant implications for their day-to-day lives, including their ability to work. Governments across the world, including India, have acknowledged Long COVID as a disease of concern.

In the US, people with Long COVID who stayed in the labour force reduced their average hours of work by 2.2-3.4 per cent, leading to a loss of between 20,000 and 39,000 full-time equivalent workers, according to a research paper by Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Brookings Institution.

Sectors which saw substantial relative drops in mean hours worked include accommodation and food services, as well as transportation and storage, the ILO report noted based on data from high-income nations. Other sectors which followed were information and communications, real estate and professional, scientific and technical activities.

The WHO had warned in December 2022 that Long COVID, which affects about 20 per cent of individuals affected, may be significantly influencing labour market activity metrics, such as working hours.

While the world is determined to move on from the acute phase, at least 65 million people are estimated to struggle with Long COVID, with cases increasing daily, according to a study published in the journal Nature January 13, 2023.

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People working fewer hours due to Long COVID, as sick days increase dramatically: ILO report - Down To Earth Magazine