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. 2025 Mar 28;17(3):e81358.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.81358. eCollection 2025 Mar.

Indirect Costs Arising From COVID-19-Related Work Absenteeism From October 2020 to July 2022: A Retrospective Study From Central Greece

Ioannis C Lampropoulos  1 , Erasmia Rouka  2 , Ioannis Pantazopoulos  1 , Eleftherios Aggelopoulos  3 , Dimitrios Papagiannis  2 , Foteini Malli  2 , Konstantinos I Gourgoulianis  1
Affiliations

Indirect Costs Arising From COVID-19-Related Work Absenteeism From October 2020 to July 2022: A Retrospective Study From Central Greece

Ioannis C Lampropoulos et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Background and objective The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in significant indirect costs due to the implementation of safety measures and work absenteeism in various sectors of the economy, thereby impacting productivity. This study aimed to examine the indirect costs of the recent pandemic in Thessalia, Central Greece, from October 2020 to July 2022. Methods This retrospective study focused on retail employees aged 20-70 years with absenteeism of 5-45 days. Indirect costs were assessed using administrative wage and leave data. Results During the study period, 1,400 employees were on sick leave: 971 women (69.36%) with a mean age of 44.4 ±9.67 years and 429 men (30.64%) with a mean age of 39.85 ±11.53 years. The study sample included 311 individuals with confirmed COVID-19. Workforce reduction averaged 2.65 workers per month, with estimated costs of €9,948.50 for employers and €90,214.58 for the National Social Security Institution. Conclusions These findings highlight substantial increases in labor costs incurred due to work absenteeism caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research should explore clinical, demographic, and societal factors influencing COVID-19-related productivity losses, which would help inform strategic resource allocation policies.

Keywords: central greece; cost of illness; covid-19; employers; indirect cost; pandemic; productivity loss; sick leave; social security.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly issued approval 288/15.09.2022. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Hours of work loss by type of employment
Figure 2
Figure 2. Workdays lost by gender and age category
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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