BRITS FEEL TOO DEPRESSED TO GO TO WORK

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Results of the online survey of 2000 UK workers reveal that a large percentage of workers have felt too depressed or hate their jobs too much to go to work some days suggesting that dissatisfaction in the workplace is increasing.

Other findings of the survey reveal that:

• Women are more likely to feign illness if there is a particular meeting or task at work that they wish to avoid or because they have an interview for a new job. 

• Men are more likely to ditch a day at work to go to attend or watch a live sporting event or to play a newly released video game.

• Employers should be wary of workers who call in sick when snow hits Britain as 3.8 percent of people say that they have taken days off to go sledging. 

• The 18 to 34 age group is more likely to miss work because they feel depressed but is also the demographic most likely to forgo work for other activities.

The typical Brit’s fondness for after work drinks also has an effect on work attendance with 16.4 percent saying that they have pulled sickies because they were suffering from a hangover. Furthermore, 17.4 percent believe that a hangover is a legitimate excuse for missing work.

“There will always be some members of the workforce that will pull sickies but our findings suggest that there is a profound sense of dissatisfaction among many employees” said John Wroath, Digital Marketing Manager of Toluna Quick. “Happiness is the key to productivity in the workplace and companies might benefit in the long-term by re-evaluating their work environment and ethos to provide a friendly and welcoming atmosphere for employees.”

Despite the relatively high percentage of people willing to skip work; nearly 40 percent of workers surveyed claim never to have pulled a sickie at all.

The CBI last year estimated that non-genuine absences from work accounted for around 30 million lost working days and costs the British economy around £2.7bn a year.

Reasons for workers pulling a sickie:

1. Never pulled a sickie – 39.05%
2. Feeling depressed – 20.8%
3. Hate their job – 17.5%
4. Suffering from a hangover – 16.4%
5. For a job interview – 14.5%
6. To avoid a particular meeting or task at work – 9.6%
7. To go to the beach or park on a hot, summer day – 6.5%
8. To go to a live sporting event / watch sporting event on TV – 5.05%
9. No money for transport to get to work – 4.85%
10. To go sledging when it’s snowing – 3.8%
11. To go to a live music gig – 3.65%
12. To play a new video game – 3.4%

To see a detailed breakdown of demographics view the full report here: http://www.tolunaquick.com/Report.aspx?token=7SbUBhjnSuD7Ag5mTVeThT2Sxwrt1ZLFbbKoLVaspbA=

About Toluna Quick

Toluna QuickSurveys is an online tool that helps people create and launch surveys easily and cost-effectively to an online survey community of 4 million in 34 countries. Toluna QuickSurveys is a product developed and maintained by Toluna PLC, a leading global online research panel and survey technology company.

For more information please contact:

Marc Ambasna-Jones

Marcom PR

01225 481734

marc@marcompr.net

Lisa Brennan

Marcom PR

01225 481734

lisa@marcompr.net