Absenteeism hits record high as workers in Spain miss 11 hours a month

Workplace absences in Spain hit a record 7.68 per cent at the end of 2025, driven by a sharp rise in long-term sick leave

Lucía Palacios

Madrid

Between 1.6 and 1.7 million people fail to show up for work across Spain every day. And this absenteeism shows no signs of ... slowing down, placing a severe strain on businesses, public health services and the state social security system. The crisis now costs the Spanish state 33 billion euros a year, with private companies footing 17 billion euros of the bill.

According to the latest report by the Adecco Group Institute, the national absenteeism rate rose by nearly half a percentage point over the last year. Even at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when infections spiked nationwide, the country’s absence rate sat significantly lower at 5.6 per cent.

For businesses, the operational toll is immense. Employees now miss an average of 10.9 hours of work per month (the equivalent of nearly a day and a half of lost productivity per worker). This has triggered severe disruption for shift planning, rota coverage and overall corporate operating costs.

"The 7.68 per cent figure confirms that absenteeism is no longer a temporary post-pandemic blip; it has become a deeply entrenched, structural challenge for the Spanish labour market," said Carlos Arcas, director of the Adecco Group Institute. "It is directly damaging productivity, competitiveness and daily business operations."

Ageing and mental health

The research indicates that the crisis is almost entirely driven by an explosion in medical sick leave, which now accounts for 5.97 per cent of all working hours.

Analysts point to three main structural factors behind the trend: an ageing workforce less resilient to physical strain, a severe spike in workplace mental health issues and backlogs in the health service leading to longer waiting times for routine medical treatments.

Furthermore, occupational illnesses that result in formal sick leave surged by 6.16 per cent in 2025. The vast majority of these cases involve physical ailments caused by repetitive strain, heavy lifting and poor workplace ergonomics.

Industry and logistics bear the brunt

Manufacturing remains the worst-affected sector, posting an overall absenteeism rate of 8.34 per cent. More than 80 per cent of occupational illnesses in this sector are linked to physical work environments.

Meanwhile, the services sector recorded the sharpest year-on-year deterioration, with absences climbing by 0.47 percentage points. Even the construction sector, historically more resilient to these trends, is catching up fast at 6.54 per cent.

However, the most severe pressures are concentrated in specific, high-intensity niches. In postal and courier services, absenteeism has skyrocketed to 13.28 per cent.

"We're seeing the highest rates of absence in sectors that demand intense physical presence and offer very little remote or flexible working options," Arcas noted. "This lack of flexibility is exacerbating staffing shortages and driving up unsustainably high rates of staff turnover."