Absenteeism at Spain’s car factories rose 7% last year – its highest ever – costing 272,000 cars in lost output and chipping away at the country’s manufacturing competitiveness against rivals in France and Romania.
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Top manufacturers’ lobby group Anfac, which reported the statistics, branded the numbers “worrying” and said it was working with the government and labour officials to draft a plan to tackle the problem.
Anfac said the labour ministry had pledged its support.
According to the group, 80% of workers who missed a shift provided doctors’ letters but that many other absences were unjustified and required more control. Campaigns informing workers about absenteeism’s impact are also required, it added.
“Absenteeism affects those who don’t miss work, hurts a company’s competitiveness and generates grave economic, organisational and social consequences that threaten employment,” Anfac said in a statement.
Absenteeism rose well above the 5.2% average increase in previous years and compared with 1% in Japan, 1.2% in Turkey, 4% in France and 2% in Romania.
The bad news comes as Spain is working to streamline manufacturing amid rising competition from eastern European rivals.
Despite high logistic costs, automakers expect to maintain or increase future production levels.
Ivan Castano Freeman
