BERLIN, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- A steep rise in the number of sick leave days taken by German workers is weighing heavily on the country's economy, a government response to a Left party (Linke) parliamentary enquiry cited by the newspaper "Rheinische Post" on Friday showed.
According to the document, the number of days which were taken off due to illness in Germany has risen by over 60 percent in the past nine years up until 2016.
During the period in question, the economic damage suffered from the absences rose by 75 percent and was measured at 75 billion euros (88.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016 alone. Even on an inflation adjusted-based, the extent to which sick leave incidences detracted from annual gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 30 percent since 1998.
In part, the development was seen by the federal government to simply reflect the continued strength of the German labor market. An ongoing trend towards higher employment and lower unemployment meant that a larger number of inhabitants had jobs from which they could to take sick leave. Germany's ageing population and higher life expectancy, resulting in a rapidly growing elderly workforce, were identified as further positive reasons which helped explain the development.
At the same time, however, the official response by Berlin also drew attention to several worrying findings. Psychological strains caused by work to Germans are on the rise, not least due to far-reaching structural changes associated with digitalization which are perceived as potentially putting their jobs at risk.
While musculoskeletal afflictions were the main reason why employees were written off work by doctors, psychological issues came second in the ranking after an increase in their incidence by 125 percent between 2008 and 2016.
Commenting on the findings, Left party delegate Jutta Krellmann complained that an increasingly-profit oriented corporate culture was having devastating effects on the mental health of staff. "Employees cannot be treated like disposable instruments. More, faster, less secure: these working conditions ensure record profits but lead to a physical and mental burn-out among employees," Krellmann told press.
By contrast, the federal government said that it did not hold the view that changing working conditions were to blame for a rise in sick leave. The official response noted that psychological disorders were now diagnosed more frequently than they had been in the past.
Similarly, the German employers association (BDA) said that the data obtained by the Left party was no cause for alarm. "There are now more people working in Germany than ever before, so it is natural that sick leave days are increasing too. Older employers in particular are statistically more likely to take longer periods off due to health reasons," a BDA spokesperson said.
