Workplace absenteeism in Romania generates around EUR 700 costs per employee, shows PwC study

The rate of workplace absenteeism in Romania, representing the proportion of absence days out of total work days, was 2.2 percent in 2015 compared with 2.4 percent in 2014, a level similar to other countries in the region and generating total costs of around EUR 700 per employee, said PwC, according to Mediafax newswire.

The rate of absenteeism is made up of unmotivated absences and the ones for medical reasons. “Absenteeism continues to generate significant costs for companies. In this context, it becomes more and more important for employees to explore the causes for this, through specific HR practices (for example, periodic employee satisfaction studies), or through the development of target programs for combating absenteeism (such as motivation programs or programs aimed at the health of the employee)”, said Horatiu Cocheci, senior manager and leader of the Consulting Services in Human Resources team with PwC Romania, according to Mediafax.

On the Romanian market, the cost of absenteeism is EUR 703 per employee, in the retail industry it is EUR 440, in the pharmaceutical industry it is EUR 1,132, which is proportional to remuneration in the sectors, as detailed in the Saratoga 2015 study conducted by PwC, said Mediafax. The study also reflects an increase in productivity in the retail and industrial production sectors, coming from increased incomes, while the banking and pharmaceutical sectors reported a decrease in workforce productivity, “due to a more accelerated increase of costs as opposed to income”, says a PwC Romania press release according to Mediafax.

Another development is that financial investment in programs dedicated to employee development went up by almost 50 percent compared to 2014, even though the time dedicated to these programs stayed constant at 17-18 hours per employee, further reports Mediafax. “We are witnessing a rethinking of training and development programs, companies preferring to invest in more expensive programs but with a higher level of long term productivity”, said Nicoleta Dumitru, manager, Consulting Services in Human Resources with PwC Romania, to Mediafax.

Andreea Tint