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Impact of Omicron on sick leave across industries: A population-wide study.

AIMS
To estimate the industry-specific impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (Omicron wave) on sick leave.


METHODS
Using individual-level data from the Norwegian Emergency Preparedness Register, the study covers all workers in different industries (N = 2,733,751 people) on a monthly level in the time periods January-March 2017-2020 (except March 2020) and 2022 (38,199,536 person-months). We estimated the industry-specific increase in monthly average sick leave during the Omicron wave in 2022 compared with the corresponding months in 2017-2020.


RESULTS
We found an average increase in monthly sick leave rates of 2.92 percentage points (95% CI 2.9-2.94) during the three first months of 2022. The increases were strongest within food and accommodation (4.42 percentage points increase, 95% CI 4.33-4.51) and administrative support services (3.94 percentage points increase, 95% CI 3.85-4.03).


CONCLUSIONS
The Omicron wave resulted in a substantial increase in sick leave, which was unevenly distributed across industries. The results of this study highlight the importance of industry-specific contingency planning when facing the rapid spread of infectious diseases.