Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Limited data exists on productivity loss among employees due to respiratory infections such as influenza, Covid-19, respiratory syncytial virus, and pneumonia. This study’s objective was to assess productivity costs related to these infections due to absenteeism and presenteeism.
METHODS: We used survey data from 3,000 respondents employed in Danish private mid-size companies with 50+ employees. Data was collected from January to March 2025. Productivity loss was calculated based on respondents’ self-reported number of sick days per month combined with their estimated productivity on different types of sick days. To estimate costs from a societal perspective, mean salary (EUR 6,200) and number of employees aged 20 to 66 years working full-time (2 million individuals) were applied from Statistics Denmark, calculated as average productivity loss multiplied by number of individuals multiplied by mean salary of the target population.
RESULTS: The average productivity loss was estimated as 4%. The self-reported productivity loss was 100% on full sick days, 30% when feeling sick and working from home, 45% when feeling sick and working at the workplace, and 65% when partially sick and working from home or workplace. An average productivity loss of 4% reflects a cost per employee of EUR 133 to EUR 291 per month for individuals with monthly salary of EUR 3,333 to EUR 7,333, respectively. The average productivity loss results in a societal cost of approximately EUR 520 million per month among the Danish full-time employed population aged 20 to 66 years during one average winter month (January to March). During the research period, this amounts to EUR 1.6 billion.
CONCLUSIONS: Our research highlights the significant economic burden of absenteeism and presenteeism due to respiratory infections during the winter months among full-time employees. The availability of vaccines can potentially reduce the burden of disease substantially, to the benefit of both individuals, employers and society.