Immigration contributes to slowing the growth of absenteeism

The more than one million immigrants who have entered the labor market in the last 10 years has contributed, among other factors, to slowing the rise in absenteeism, which is increasing year after year. The IVIE, in a joint report with the mutual insurance company Umivale Activa, analyzed a sample available only to researchers of microdata from the Continuous Sample of Working Lives (MCVL), which cross-references anonymous data from more than 700,000 workers. "All other personal and employment characteristics being equal, the probability of having a sick leave is significantly lower for foreigners (10.3 percentage points lower), as is their rate of absenteeism due to temporary disability (2.4 points lower)," according to the report.

"These results suggest that immigration may have contributed to moderating the increase in absenteeism experienced in recent years," the IVIE researchers add. In the sample analyzed, absenteeism was 38.6% among nationals and 26.6% among foreigners. This does not mean that this is the actual absenteeism rate, but rather that this is the figure for the group studied, for which a multitude of data could be analyzed.

The absenteeism rate, understood as the percentage of employees who, for one reason or another, do not show up for work, is 12.1%, as shown in the graph. This is above the European average, which is 9%. Sources from the CC.OO. (Working Council of Workers) explain that the first thing that should be clarified is what absenteeism means, since while for unions it refers only to unjustified absences from work, for companies it refers to any non-appearance.

Absences of native workers from their jobs exceed those of foreigners

The IVIE report focuses on absences due to temporary disability that must be validated by a doctor. In this case, the number of workdays lost in 2023 for workers in the general system alone is 368.7 million, equivalent to a loss of production of €81.574 billion of GDP, 5.4% of the total, according to the researchers' estimates.

The potential loss of activity figure is 47% higher than it was five years ago. The increase in these sick leaves has not gone unnoticed by the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIREF), as they also have a cost to the State. AIREF aims to analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of public spending on this benefit.

In sick leave, Spain also ranks as one of the EU countries with the highest rate of absenteeism due to this cause, and with the fastest growth rate. Between 2018 and 2023, the number of lost workdays grew by 52%, reaching the aforementioned 368.7 million days. This represents 5.6% of all workdays worked in Spain. Another way of looking at this figure is that it's as if one million workers were on sick leave every day, or every employed person in Spain were absent 20 days a year due to temporary disability. This is five more days than in 2018.

Sources at the CC.OO. (Working Council of Workers' Compensation) believe that, given the increase in sick leave, "it would be interesting to understand the origin of these absences, and how much of this is due to overcrowding in understaffed healthcare services." Another possible explanation, the union maintains, may lie in "the aging of the working population and greater health awareness following the pandemic." The increase is occurring among salaried workers in both the private and public sectors, as well as among the self-employed. "There is a structural change, but we need to properly understand its causes," say the CC.OO.

There are many other variables that influence sick leave, such as age, educational level, and type of employment. According to the report, while 3% of young people between 16 and 29 years old suffer temporary disability, for those between 60 and 64 years old, the percentage is 9.6%. Absences are also more frequent and generate more temporary disability among people with less education. This phenomenon could be related to the fact that these workers are the ones who perform the most arduous tasks.

From the Canary Islands to Madrid

The 5.6% absenteeism rate for all working days in Spain is highly dispersed across autonomous communities, according to the IVIE study. The Canary Islands lead the ranking with 7.5%, while Madrid has the lowest incidence, at 4.5%. Catalonia is in the upper range, with a rate of 6%. In all regions, there has been a significant increase between 2018 and 2023, which averages 36% for Spain, according to the report. The communities with the greatest increases are Galicia (+53%), the Canary Islands (+48%), and Asturias (+43%). These are precisely the regions with the highest absenteeism rates in the entire country.