Mercedes-Benz boss Ola Källenius (55) maintains the high level of sickness Germany a problem for companies. “If, under the same production conditions, sick leave in Germany is sometimes twice as high as in other European countries, this has economic consequences,” said the top manager, referring to Mercedes-Benz MIRROR. In Germany, the car manufacturer produces not only cars but also vans and components, similar to Hungary, Romania, Spain and Poland.
There has been a lot of debate recently about the question of whether German employees stay home sick too often Tesla due to high sickness rates and Unannounced home visits to employees on sick leave had caused a stir. According to plant manager Andre Thierig, around 200 employees at the car manufacturer’s Gigafactory in Grünheide, Brandenburg have not yet worked this year because they are on sick leave. At times, the sickness rate in Grünheide is said to have reached up to 15 percent. employees and the IG Metall In turn, criticize Tesla for having too few staff, which is at the expense of the employees’ health.
Källenius emphasizes that Mercedes-Benz does a lot for its employees, “from occupational safety and ergonomic work processes to health advice, flu vaccinations and resilience training.” He warned his workforce: “It takes all sides to achieve improvement here.”
With alliance-CEO Oliver Bäte (59), another boss of a DAX company, recently commented on the sickness reports in Germany. Germans have far more sick days than employees in Germany USA or Switzerland, he said.
Respiratory diseases at their peak
The fact is: The number of respiratory diseases in Germany was at an all-time high last week compared to previous years. This emerges from the weekly report of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Based on the cases reported by people themselves via the online portal “GrippeWeb”, the RKI assumes 8,800 respiratory diseases per 100,000 inhabitants (ARE incidence). That corresponds to 7.4 million people based on the entire population. “Bild” first reported.
For calendar week 41 – this year it ran from October 7th to 13th – this is the highest value since such surveys began in 2011. Last year, the RKI reported around 7,000 illnesses per 100,000 inhabitants – i.e. 5.8 million people the total population extrapolated. The highest ARE incidence to date in calendar week 41 was reached in 2011 with more than 7,800.
Colds, Covid and Co
The number of registered doctor visits also indicates a high level of sickness. The RKI reported 1,900 visits per 100,000 inhabitants for respiratory diseases last week. However, due to the autumn holidays in some federal states, this value is inaccurate.
The majority of the illnesses that were evaluated from samples by doctors’ offices were either due to classic cold viruses, the rhinoviruses (30 percent), or to coronaviruses (22 percent). Influenza A and B viruses, which are responsible for the flu, were not detected last week. Last year, according to the RKI definition, the flu season started in calendar week 50, i.e. in mid-December.