Absenteeism is starting to take hold again. People just don't turn up. Some let the workplace know. Others don't. All sorts of reasons for it but it puts a strain on those who are there and it undermines smooth working conditions which would be less demanding on those present and more positive for all if everyone were consistently there. It seems to be a problem everywhere. Forbes outlines the costs and causes in America. There is quite a list. There is a similar list for Australia with Tuesday seeming to be popular as the day off. That can be a bit misleading as some people work through a week and a weekend and when they get to Tuesday they might just be too tired to get up. Long shifts, long weeks interfere with the rhythm of life. How many days straight do some people work? How long are their days? Is it a case of sheer fatigue or does the absenteeism trend go back to school attendance patterns as well? Maybe it's both. Maybe we have work place conditions which do not suit a human body and then a lack of commitment from others.Why the lack of commitment? What factors influence that? Workplace info has some interesting information about absenteeism. So, do we reward those who can be relied upon or do we just keep pushing them and being sorry when they finally break? Do we need to look at this? Adelaide is a good place to look at working conditions because we are not a huge state in terms of population and we can investigate things more easily and maybe even work out how to improve things without risking huge numbers in a big company. We also have a good history of competent sociological research. Rather than let it carry on like this , it might be sensible to take a look at what is causing absenteeism and how to address it. It is not in anyone's long term interests to allow such an obvious problem go ignored.
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