SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE/MADRID, 24th October (EUROPA PRESS) –
In the second quarter, the Canary Islands recorded a work absenteeism rate of 8.3% (including both sick leave due to temporary incapacity and other causes), making the archipelago the second autonomous community with the highest absenteeism levels, surpassed only by the Basque Country (8.6%). Concerning absenteeism due to medical leave, the Canary Islands were the most affected, exhibiting the highest absenteeism rate due to temporary incapacity (7.2%).
On a national scale, over 1.4 million individuals on average failed to attend work each day in the second quarter, of which 1.13 million were on medical leave, while nearly 308,000 did not provide justification for their absence, representing 21.4% of the total number of absent workers.
This is highlighted in a Randstad report published this Thursday, which sets the work absenteeism rate for the second quarter at 6.6% of the contracted hours, indicating an increase of one-tenth from the 6.5% recorded at the end of 2023.
In the case of absenteeism due to temporary incapacity (IT) or medical leave, the rate for the second quarter was 5.2%, two-tenths higher than that registered at the end of the previous year, according to the Randstad report, which relies on data from the Quarterly Labor Cost Survey of the National Statistics Institute (INE).
“Absenteeism in the Spanish labour market remains at elevated levels, and we are failing to achieve a sustained reduction, which we consider very serious, as it escalates costs for companies and ultimately diminishes their competitiveness,” asserted Valentín Bote, the director of Randstad Research, Randstad’s research department.
By industry, the manufacturing sector exhibited the highest absenteeism level in the second quarter, with 7.1% of the total contracted hours, followed by the services sector at 6.7%, and construction at 5.2%.
Randstad’s analysis by sector reveals significant disparities. The sectors with the highest absenteeism include gambling activities (11.3%), the tobacco industry (11.3%), postal services (11.1%), and building and gardening services (11%).
Conversely, the sectors with the least absenteeism include employment-related activities (2.5%), legal and accounting services (3.3%), architectural and engineering services (3.5%), property activities (3.5%), and publishing (3.5%).
BASQUE COUNTRY, THE REGION WITH THE HIGHEST WORK ABSENTEEISM
By autonomous community, the Basque Country recorded the highest absenteeism rate in the second quarter at 8.6% of the contracted hours, followed by the Canary Islands (8.3%), Galicia (7.8%) and Asturias (7.8%).
The lowest absenteeism levels were found in the Balearic Islands (5.1%), the Community of Madrid (5.7%), Andalusia (6.2%), and the Valencian Community (6.2%).
