Post-pandemic | Is coronavirus STILL hurting your business?

A surge in recent COVID-19 infections has led to a steep rise in the number of staff calling in sick – costing businesses millions of pounds in the process.

According to the Office of National Statistics, one in 17 people or 5.77% of the population (roughly 3.2million) in England had COVID-19 in the week ending 14 July, showing a steady increase from the 2.7million infected in the week ending 3rd July. The Independent reports that, during this week, 1.65 million working days were lost to COVID, at an estimated cost to employers of £226.4million – an increase of 23% on the previous week, according to data from absence management company GoodShape.

As infections have risen significantly since then, the cost of staff absences being born by employers can be expected to have risen commensurately – and it’s being felt most keenly by small businesses. As Martin McTague, National Chair of the Federations of Small Businesses, explained: “Small firms aren’t like large corporates – they don’t have big teams that enable easy redeployment of staff when some team members are off.”

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McTague added that the cost of staff absenteeism for small businesses, including the cost of finding cover for absent staff, exceeded £3,500 per organisation last year. While that cannot be entirely put down to COVID, it’s clear that any surge in cases is going to be a cause of concern for employers. This new wave of infections comes at a particularly difficult time for small businesses, which are already being hit hard by soaring inflation, rising costs, supply chain issues and the cost-of-living crisis.