Health
Gen Z employees are taking more sick days than previous generations — here's why
Sick days have taken on a whole new meaning.
As Generation Z employees enter the workforce, paid sick days — allotted by a majority of companies — are being used more than ever.
Approximately 30% of employees took sick leave in the first 10 months of 2023 — up 42% from 2019, according to the HR platform Gusto, which is used by more than 300,000 U.S. businesses.
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The average amount of time taken off for sick leave has also increased by 15% since 2019, reaching an average of 15.5 hours per year.
Another HR platform, Dayforce, reported a 55% increase in sick leave during the same time frame, based on its users’ activity.
Among white-collar workers, Dayforce saw a 42% spike in sick leave since 2019.
Sick leave jumped 42% from 2019 to 2023, according to HR platform Gusto. (iStock)
Workers ages 25 to 34 years old were the most likely to take advantage of these benefits, according to Gusto’s data.
“This younger generation is now the most likely to take time away from work to rest and recover from an illness — a sign of a generational shift in the attitude that employees have about taking time off to protect their health,” Gusto reported last year.
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Jake Canull, regional director of the Top Employers Institute in New York, reacted to this data in a response sent to Fox News Digital.
Top Employers, in new research, found that regardless of age, “sick days are encouraged by employers to prevent and recover from illness,” Canull said.
Gen Z is “now the most likely to take time away from work to rest and recover from an illness,” according to Gusto, an HR platform. (iStock)
Many companies with high levels of employee engagement have created initiatives to raise awareness of mental and emotional health, the expert noted.
These same companies are 14% more likely to discourage people from working overtime and 9% more likely to encourage them to take stress-relieving breaks during the workday, Canull added.
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Gen Z employees are less likely to work in independent and self-directed workspaces — as they value human contact and collaboration, he said.
“They tend to prioritize safer and healthier workplaces over growth and development opportunities.”
America’s youngest workers also prioritize their own well-being, he mentioned, and are “very community-focused.”
“They tend to [avoid] infecting their colleagues by staying home,” Canull told Fox News Digital.
“Generally, they tend to prioritize safer and healthier workplaces over growth and development opportunities.”
Seventy-eight percent of Gen Z workers believe the workplace should build community, social connections and belonging, a survey found. (iStock)
Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst and NYU Langone clinical professor of medicine, told Fox News Digital that it “would be nice” to think that an additional use of sick days is due to people being more conscious of spreading infection since the pandemic.
“But I don’t believe that’s the case,” he said. “If anything, post-COVID fatigue has led to fewer precautions, including to COVID, which is now spreading widely again.”
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The doctor presumed that rising sick days are more associated with burnout at work, scarcity of rewards and lack of commitment to careers — especially among younger people.
“People are more likely to game the system or require mental health days because of growing anxiety and depression in our society,” Siegel theorized.
“Some people just feel like providing more balance in their lives between work and play.”
Rising sick days could be due to burnout at work, lack of rewards and lack of commitment to careers, one doctor suggested. (iStock)
Dr. Kyle Elliott, a career coach based in California, agreed that Gen Z employees prioritize work-life balance.
“It’s easier to take a sick day when you find meaning and purpose beyond your work and career,” Elliott told Fox News Digital.
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Gen Z workers have also recognized that sick days aren’t solely reserved for physical illness, according to the expert.
“They can also be used when you’re coping with stress or burnout — and you don’t have to provide your employer with a detailed reason for why you’re using your sick time,” Elliott said.
Sixty-two percent of Gen Z respondents would be willing to accept a lower salary in return for a better work-life balance.
“Gen Z workers are demonstrating that it doesn’t hurt to take a day or two off when you’re feeling mentally worn down or exhausted — and it can pay off in the long run if you recover quicker.”
Elliott suggested that America’s youngest employees are learning there is “more to life than work” and “little benefit in working when you’re sick.”
Members of Gen Z are learning that there is “more to life than work,” one workplace wellness expert said. (iStock)
New and exclusive data from the Top Employers Gen Z survey revealed that 81% of young workers believe their employers have a responsibility to support the physical well-being of their employees.
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Meanwhile, 83% agree that employers are responsible for supporting their employees’ psychological well-being.
Also, 62% of Gen Z respondents would be willing to accept a lower salary in return for a better work-life balance, according to the survey.
Gen Z workers encouraged fostering supportive work environments, as 78% said the workplace should build community, social connections and belonging — and 75% stated that having fun at work is important.
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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