Presenteeism is one of the unseen challenges of the modern workplace. While absenteeism could be easy to see, presenteeism is less visible and generally costs organisations more when presenteeism occurs where workers are on the job but sick, stressed, or disengaged to the point of non-productivity. This invisible challenge may have dire consequences for employee well-being and the performance of the organisation.
Presenteeism has always been challenging to identify; it will be easier to identify in 2025 as hybrid work becomes more commonplace, and we start to notice mental health challenges become more visible. Companies can gain from understanding the causes and consequences of presenteeism, alongside common ways of measuring presenteeism, to help them address it more proactively.
Presenteeism refers to when workers report to work despite feeling unwell, feeling burdened by stress, or lacking the capacity to perform their job duties as normal. With absenteeism, workers are absent from work. Presenteeism is harder to identify because it does not involve absence from work, but physical presence alone does not indicate effectiveness, resulting in a reduction in productivity, errors, and longer periods to recovery.
Presenteeism can result from a variety of factors, including health issues, stress, burnout, and workplace cultures that do not promote breaks. While they are still physically there and so it is often overlooked, anyone who is showing presenteeism is performing lower than their ideal capacity, and therefore, they are dragging down total productivity across the organisation.
Presenteeism may arise from a variety of factors, such as physical health ailments, mental health challenges, burnout, or an organisation’s culture that discourages breaks and doesn’t encourage them. It often gets overlooked because employees are present but are functioning at a reduced level.
Presenteeism often occurs when people are still coming to work but are unable to work to their full potential. This affects employee productivity as well as workplace culture. Here are the primary causes of presenteeism:
Employees are feeling chronic illnesses, stress, or simply some health issue, and often they elect to try to keep working instead of resting. This will give a time when their focus and efficiency are becoming less over time.
The picture of losing a job, losing out on promotion opportunities, and coming in feeling sick increases work pressure on employees when they are feeling ill. This exacerbates stress while also hampering the quality of work when completing tasks.
Employees in heavy workloads with timelines can feel pressure to continue working through illness or fatigue. They may feel that if they take time off work, they will feel obligated to do the work anyway.
When organisations do not have structured sick leave policies, employees may feel they have no choice but to work while sick, which is bad for their health and lowers productivity overall. Over time, a culture of presenteeism and burnout can develop.
Some companies see coming to work while sick as a sign of dedication. The peer pressure leads employees to work through times of illness. This workplace culture and consequent cultural peer pressure contribute to presenteeism, with employees compromising their health and productivity.
Presenteeism may seem harmless as employees are now physically present at work, but its contribution can be more harmful than absenteeism. Presenteeism decreases overall productivity at the workplace and raises hidden costs, costing both employees and organisations alike. Below are some of the main factors that arise from presenteeism:
Employees who are at work while preoccupied or unwell are not performing at their level of potential, which reduces efficiency and production. These reduced levels of productivity will directly affect the overall level of production as well as the growth of the organisation.
Employees who are fatigued, ill, or stressed may make mistakes and miss details, which reduces the quality of their work. For employers, a lack of attention to detail or work quality can lead to diminished trust from clients and negatively impact the organisation's reputation.
Working without adequate rest or appropriate health care can aggravate already existing health problems, increasing recovery time and the likelihood of chronic illness. In effect, this perpetuates cycles of inconsistency in performance.
Hidden costs such as health care, errors, and decreased productivity cause financial difficulty to organisations. Many organisations find themselves spending more on health care and remediation than on prevention.
As presenteeism often becomes a cultural norm, it leads to stress, dissatisfaction, and burnout. This damps morale and engagement among teams, all adding to employee turnover . Over time, it can contribute to organisational instability and reduce productivity.
Presenteeism occurs when employees physically show up to work but are not fully productive due to illness, stressors at home, and other circumstances. Presenteeism not only impacts the individual's productivity, but it also affects organisational productivity overall. Below are a couple of common examples of presenteeism in the workplace.
An employee tries to work even while they are physically unwell. Instead of taking the proper time off to rest and recover, the employee chooses to work. Not only does this lower the employee's productivity, but it also risks the health of other people in the workplace.
An employee may be physically at work but distracted by some type of stress, anxiety, or depression. This can mean that their focus, creativity, and decision-making are negatively affected, which impacts how productive the employee is. Over time, the employee may suffer serious long-term mental health concerns.
Working long hours, often with little or no rest, can result in burnout. Employees might still be at work, but experience significant declines in performance, energy, and enthusiasm for their job. Eventually, this decline will result in a reduction in job satisfaction and can even increase the likelihood of employee turnover.
If employees are experiencing personal issues with their family or health, it may adversely affect their focus while at work. Employees can be present, but not mentally present, meaning they have trouble concentrating or being productive. This situation adds to presenteeism, trouble getting work done, and can increase stress.
Employees whose jobs are at risk can mismanage their time. Instead of thinking of the quality work they can do when they show up for work, they focus on attendance as a measure of their work performance. Employees can be so motivated by this level of fear that it can measurably increase presenteeism and more stress on the employee.
Presenteeism represents reduced productivity and not physical absence; it can be difficult to measure. However, organisations can conduct a combination of surveys, performance statistics, and health assessments to track presenteeism. Here are some practical measures of presenteeism:
Surveys and questionnaires give employees the opportunity to self-report the extent to which health or personal issues impact their focus and productivity. They provide an immediate view into presenteeism levels.
Tracking productivity and performance metrics against productivity goals captures employee output levels to spot the employees who are physically present but are clearly underperforming. A significant gap between time worked and productivity typically indicates presenteeism.
Regular health checkups, sick leave, and wellness program participation offer clues about presenteeism. Employees who have initially untreated health issues are more likely to be unproductive.
Supervisors or managers can often pick up on the obvious signs of presenteeism, including disengagement, an increase in errors, or a lack of energy at work. Managerial observations provide a qualitative measure to supplement other quantitative measures.
HR analytics software and more advanced productivity software can track time to task, absenteeism patterns, and engagement levels. Analytics tools provide consistent, accurate, real-time data to measure presenteeism consistently and objectively.
Presenteeism can be a silent drain on productivity in the workplace when colleagues arrive for work but cannot produce value because of stress, illness, or lack of motivation. Managing presenteeism effectively requires strategies. Here are some ideas to reduce presenteeism and ultimately improve productivity:
Encourage employees to take breaks, support time off when they are overworked, and take time away from work to maintain a good balance between work and life. A positive environment cuts down on the stress levels people experience, enabling them to bring positive energy to work.
Where possible, create a relaxed policy whereby employees feel comfortable taking time off when they are unwell. This is beneficial for both employees and employers who could be affected by illness, and it also enables an employee to come back to work without any pressure and at their most productive point.
Hybrid schedules, remote work, and flexible hours are great ways to help people feel engaged with their work and seek to reduce burnout. Giving employees the freedom to discover how they work most effectively helps them stay engaged and focused on work.
Offering dedicated mental health support programs, counselling, wellness options, or employee assistance programs are helpful ways to address mental health issues to help reduce absenteeism and presenteeism.
Work that can provide an employee with some recognition, either through reward or appreciation, can enhance their feeling of personal value and boost morale. Employees with high morale appear to want to be engaged with work and are less likely to disengage and more likely to engage and endeavour to be productive.
Both presenteeism and absenteeism impact productivity, but they differ in how they appear in the workplace.
| Aspect | Presenteeism | Absenteeism |
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