Occupational groups such as geriatric care or vehicle drivers are particularly affected by staff shortages. This causes stress and overload. (Symbolic image) © IMAGO/Ute Grabowsky/photothek.de
Almost every second employee in Bavaria regularly suffers from a lack of staff at work. The consequences: overwork, lack of sleep, back pain and little time for friends and family.
Munich - "More than half of the employees are completely exhausted, many suffer from complaints such as headaches," quotes the German Press Agency (dpa) from the current health report of the DAK Bavaria. According to the report, almost every second working person in Bavaria regularly feels the lack of personnel on the job – with serious consequences for health. Another problem is that even if they are sick, many people still drag themselves to work in the face of too few colleagues.
Staff shortage in Bavaria: back pain, sleep disorders, no time for the family
In the representative survey, 45 percent of Bavarian employees stated that they regularly experienced the shortage of personnel. Only 13 percent did not struggle with this burden last year. The study, entitled "Health Risk Staff Shortages", shows that those affected are under severe pressure to meet deadlines and perform, work overtime and miss breaks. "The workload increases very sharply with the intensity of the experienced staff shortage," says the DAK report.
Even in their free time, those affected are often unable to switch off in their free time, do without sports and spend little time with hobbies, families and friends. As a result, half of them feel permanently tired and exhausted. One in three suffers from back pain or other complaints of the musculoskeletal system, and a similar proportion cites sleep disorders as a symptom. One-fifth have headaches.
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Illness due to staff shortages: vehicle drivers and geriatric care particularly affected
In the groups that are particularly hard hit by the staff shortage in Bavaria, more people are also getting sick. This is reflected not only in the representative survey, but also in the data of the 345,000 employed insured persons of the DAK in Bavaria: In occupational groups with a high shortage of skilled workers, an average of one to two percent more sick leave was recorded. This applies, for example, to vehicle drivers such as truck drivers, train drivers and pilots, but also to people in geriatric care.
"Many workers are reducing their working hours to cope with the pressure, further exacerbating staff shortages. This threatens to create a vicious circle," says DAK state director Sophie Schwab. Six percent of all employees are already working less, and one in five is considering doing the same. Other people affected by staff shortages had already resigned internally and were only working according to the rules.
Health insurance company presents possible solutions
However, the worse the personnel shortage, the more often those affected go to work sick: In the last twelve months, 68 percent of employees have appeared sick at work if their industry is marked by staff shortages. In workforces without this burden, it was only 38 percent.
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The DAK proposes a comprehensive occupational health management approach as a solution. However, she does not just mean individual measures such as a fruit basket in the kitchen. Instead, there is a need for concepts on how organizations develop healthily: with suitable personnel management, time management, mixed-age teams and the normalization of diversity. (elb/dpa)
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