Three Million Britons Were Off Work Sick in the First Week of 2022
- Omicron forcing more workers to stay home than in 2021 wave
- Government, healthcare sectors badly hit by Covid-19 absences
A notice informing commuters of canceled train services at London Victoria railway station.
Photographer: Hollie Adams/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The rapid spread of the omicron variant drove a sharp increase in the number of people missing work in the U.K. during the first week of January, according to an analysis of workplace attendance data carried out for Bloomberg News.
About 3 million workers were on sick leave from Jan. 3 through Jan. 9, according to GoodShape, which tracks work-related illness and wellbeing at U.K. employers. An estimated 1.6 million new cases of absence began during that period, an 18% jump on a year earlier.