Absenteeism

MatC · 160873. Wed Mar 28, 2007 2:48 pm

Q: How much does absenteeism cost the British economy every year?
A: Nothing.

According to researchers at Swansea University, the usual calculation of skiving costs are overestimates by up to £13 billion - the true net cost, they reckon, is “close to zero.”

The reason is that other studies have not included the cost of reducing absenteeism. “Our estimates include the cost of prevention as well as the cost of lost production. It turns out these two figures more or less cancel each other out.”

In other words - if bosses learned to stop worrying about absenteeism, and just accept it, they wouldn't actually lose any money.

S: http://www.swan.ac.uk/news_centre/NewsArchive/2006-2007/Headline,7628,en.asp
Morning Star, 17 Aug 06.

Flash · 160881. Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:23 pm

Do they consider the possibility that if we didn't spend all this money on prevention then we'd have double the absenteeism? If not, then they aren't really concentrating.

MatC · 160882. Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:26 pm

Hmm ... but they can't be wrong, Flash - they're experts.