British workers miss fewer days at work than those in rest of Europe ⁰

Ayming, a business performance consultancy, has released its 8th absenteeism barometer, analysing workplace absenteeism and employee engagement across Europe. The research claims that UK workers missed fewer days at work last year than anywhere else in Europe, with 84 percent of workers at work each day. That compared to 72 percent in the rest of Europe, including 71 percent in France. By gender, the proportion of women in the UK who were at work every day was 88 percent surpassing that of men (83 percent). Employees aged 26-30 had the lowest attendance record – only 71 percent missed no days at work – while employees aged 51-62 had an attendance record of 92 percent.Despite the fact that UK workers took less time off work, British workers had the smallest proportion of happy and motivated employees, at just 23 percent. By contrast, 46 percent of German and 54 percent of Dutch employees regarded themselves as both happy and motivated.

In addition, at 42 percent, British workers were the least engaged with the future of the business they work for, with employee engagement an increasing concern for UK-based businesses. Of those British workers who were happy and motivated, they were typically male, aged 31-40, located in London, and employed for the company for less than six years. 86 percent of workers who are happy at work said the content of their work was the factor that was keeping them motivated, while those who were unhappy, 36 percent said they were demotivated by the lack of personal development and work recognition.

Martin Hook, Managing Director at Ayming UK, commented: “This research shows that even though we’re geographically close to our European neighbours, UK employers face an increasingly unique and complex set of issues. Whilst employees in the UK spend more days at work than anywhere else in Europe, they are also the least engaged. Clearly more needs to be done in the UK to address employee engagement – especially as there is plenty of evidence to suggest that low employee engagement can have a very real effect on business profitability.”