Member Article

An extra 5.1 million Brits absent from work after England games

Every England football match over the coming weeks is set to cause an increase of 5.1 million Brits being absent from work[1].

The statistics have been released by Access Group, which tracked the absence data of 40,000 UK workers over the four years since the 2010 tournament. The results show a soar of an additional 17 per cent of UK workers taking off the day after an England game.

In 2010 there were spikes of absenteeism on the day of, or day after all England matches, with the biggest increase coming after the victory against Slovenia, and a similar level of absenteeism following the 4 – 1 defeat to Germany.

The data shows that absences return to normal level after England exits the tournament, which could leave employers eager for England to crash out in a bid to avoid being understaffed and at risk of losing business.

However, England fans do play fair, with most absences being taken as holiday rather than sickness. Jon Jorgensen, Group Director for Access, says, “Big sporting events always have an impact with people eager to cheer on their team. It’s good to see that most people take a responsible approach booking leave in advance or taking holiday rather than pulling sickies.

“Ten years ago companies would never have had access to this type of data, but now businesses can build a rich set of data around absence trends. Analytics of employee behaviour is increasing in profile and importance.

“Absence data becomes really valuable when it allows businesses to make smart decisions about resourcing and productivity. It’s these decisions that will improve the bottom line and create competitive edge.”

[1] UK employments figures at 30.54 million at June 2014 http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/june-2014/index.html

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Access Group .