Young employees show double short-term absenteeism rate compared to older workers in Sweden

Employees under the age of 30 exhibit twice the amount of short-term absenteeism—defined as being absent for less than 14 days—compared to their older counterparts. This finding is reported in the 2024 Job Health Report by Feelgood, a company specializing in workplace health.

Short-term absenteeism is characterized as being absent on at least six occasions within a year for periods lasting under two weeks. The trend began to emerge in statistics collected between 2018 and 2020. According to Charlotte Valleskog, the chief psychologist at Feelgood, employers have noted that younger employees often report illness for reasons beyond physical health, including situations like having stayed up all night gaming or relationship breakups, which previous generations might not have considered justifications for missing work.

During the pandemic, employees aged 30 to 65 saw their absenteeism rise to 8%, but this number has since declined to 6% in the first half of 2024. Valleskog explains that the normalization of staying home with minor symptoms might have influenced these trends, particularly among young people, who were entering the workforce during the pandemic. Absenteeism among young adults had already been increasing prior to the pandemic, climbing from 8% in 2010 to over 15% in early 2024.

Valleskog emphasizes that while it’s tempting to assume that younger workers are simply less healthy, other factors—such as a lack of understanding about absenteeism policies and rising mental health issues—may also be at play. Many ambitious young individuals, after long years of education, might find themselves overwhelmed as they transition to the workforce without adequate recovery time.